OpenAI Denies Elon Musk's Allegation Of Reaching Startup Missions And Merger Demands With Tesla

Elon Musk sued OpenAI for ignoring the startup mission. (photo: x @ TRUMP_ARMY_.)

JAKARTA - OpenAI on Tuesday 5 March, rejected Elon Musk's claim that the startup had abandoned its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the good of mankind. Instead, they said that the billionaire had demanded a merger between ChatGPT creators and Tesla. In a blog post, OpenAI expressed its intention to reject all Musk's claims.

Musk filed a lawsuit against the startup he filed last week, on charges of contract infringement, while stating that the Microsoft-backed company is now focusing on earning money.

OpenAI said Musk wanted the company to join electric vehicle maker Tesla, and he continued an email saying the startup should "join Tesla as his dairy cow".

The suggestion came after Musk and the company decided the next step was to create a profit-oriented entity in 2017 to generate capital for the development of generalized artificial intelligence (AGI).

However, Musk and OpenAI cannot agree on the requirements for profit-oriented entities because the startup feels it is against the mission so that no individual has absolute control over the company.

In his lawsuit, Musk said the three founders of OpenAI initially agreed to work on AGI, a concept that machines can handle human-like tasks, but in a way that "profits humanity".

Musk also pushed OpenAI to announce an initial funding commitment of $1 billion in 2015, after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and founder Greg Brockman initially planned to raise $100 million.

"We are saddened that this is happening with someone we really admire - someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, start competitors, and then sue us as we begin making real progress towards the OpenAI mission without it," said OpenAI.

Musk and Tesla have not responded to the OpenAI blog post. Musk's lawsuit is an accumulation of his long-standing rejection of the startup. Since then, OpenAI has been the face of generative artificial intelligence, partly due to billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft.

Musk then founded his own artificial intelligence startup, xAI, which was launched in July 2023.