Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI: Documents Reveal 2018 ICO

Elon Musk named Microsoft and other defendants in his ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. In court documents, Musk claimed that OpenAI sought to launch a cryptocurrency in 2018, which he rejected.

OpenAI representatives posted years-old correspondence with Musk, citing his full knowledge of their struggle to fund massively capital-intensive research.

Elon Musk vs OpenAI

In the latest court filing, Elon Musk named several new defendants in his ongoing suit against the prominent artificial intelligence firm OpenAI. Musk names former OpenAI associates and investors in this amended complaint, including Microsoft. He accused the company of abandoning its nonprofit focus, which was a major reason behind Musk’s initial investment.

Since OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit status, the firm has publicly sought to reach a valuation of $150 billion. This would be a staggering net worth for any company, even one that aims to reform the whole tech industry.

Also, according to court documents provided by Musk’s legal team, OpenAI first tried to launch an ICO in 2018:

“In January 2018, mere months after their September 2017 ‘enthusiasm,’ Altman proposed a scamworthy ‘ICO,’ or initial coin offering, that would have seen OpenAI, Inc. sell its own cryptocurrency. Musk shot down this idea too, stating ‘it would simply result in a massive loss of credibility for OpenAI and everyone associated with the ICO,’” Musk’s team claimed.

In other words, Musk’s lawyers are claiming that OpenAI founder Sam Altman has always prioritized making money over the public good. Musk claims he only joined the project to run it as a nonprofit and then left over this philosophical difference. The company has generated huge revenues since going public, receiving $6.6 billion in funding this October.

However, the firm strongly disputed these allegations. This March, the firm published prior correspondence between Musk and company executives, stretching back nearly nine years.

In these talks, OpenAI members stressed the capital-intensive nature of AI development and stated that a profit-seeking pivot would be “inevitable.” In other words, Musk had known of this for years.

“We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired—someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress towards OpenAI’s mission without him,” the company’s statement read.

As of yet, the lawsuit’s prospects of success seem very unclear. Musk previously dropped this lawsuit in July, before opening it again and naming new plaintiffs. This attack may be an attempt to cause a headache for OpenAI, rather than win a large settlement or substantially change the company’s business trajectory.