The legal battle between OpenAI and its co-founder, billionaire Elon Musk, continues to escalate. OpenAI recently filed a countersuit, seeking to prevent Musk from engaging in "further unlawful and unfair acts" and demanding compensation for damages incurred.
In the countersuit, OpenAI's lawyers stated: "OpenAI is a resilient company, but Musk's actions have caused us harm. If his attacks continue, OpenAI's mission and the public interest will be further threatened." The countersuit also alleges that Musk's recent sham takeover bid aimed to disrupt OpenAI's progress and must be stopped.
Image Credit: Image generated by AI, licensed through Midjourney
Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that the company has abandoned its original purpose and failed to ensure that the benefits of artificial intelligence research are shared with all of humanity. Founded in 2015 as a non-profit, OpenAI transitioned to a "capped-profit" structure in 2019, with plans to further restructure as a public benefit corporation. Musk had sought a preliminary injunction to halt OpenAI's for-profit transformation. Although a federal judge denied his injunction request in March, the case is set for a jury trial in the spring of 2026.
Having grown increasingly adversarial towards OpenAI, Musk has become one of the company's primary opponents. The situation is critical for OpenAI, as it reportedly needs to complete its for-profit transformation by 2025 or risk losing some recently secured funding.
Meanwhile, several organizations, including unions and non-profits, this week petitioned California Attorney General Rob Bonta to block OpenAI's transition to a for-profit entity, claiming the company has "failed to protect its charitable assets" and is actively "undermining its charitable mission to advance safe AI." Encode, a non-profit that supported a failed California bill on AI safety, expressed similar concerns in an amicus brief.
In response, OpenAI stated that its transformation will retain and further resource its non-profit arm to support "charitable causes" in areas such as healthcare, education, and science. OpenAI emphasized on social media: "We are actually building the world's best-equipped non-profit. The transformation isn't a give-up. Musk never truly cared about our mission; he always had his own agenda."
Key takeaways:
⚔️ OpenAI countersues, seeking to stop Musk's unlawful actions and recover damages.
📅 Musk accuses OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit origins; the case goes to trial in 2026.
🔒 Multiple organizations call for blocking OpenAI's for-profit transition, citing failure to protect charitable assets.
