Elon Musk Expands Lawsuit Against OpenAI, Adds Microsoft And Antitrust Claims

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and supporters of Donald Trump (photo: x @ElonMuskode)

JAKARTA Billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk has expanded his lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, by adding federal antitrust claims. In addition, he also made Microsoft a defendant. The updated lawsuit was filed on Thursday evening, November 14 at the federal court in California.

In an expanded lawsuit, Musk accused Microsoft and OpenAI of illegally seeking to monopolize the generative artificial intelligence market and get rid of competitors. As in its original lawsuit filed in August, Musk accused OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of violating contract terms by prioritizing profits over public interests in AI development.

"There has never been a company that has changed from a tax-free charity to a giant entity worth 157 billion US dollars that crippled the market in just eight years," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit aims to cancel OpenAI's license with Microsoft and force them to release profits deemed "illegal".

In its official statement, OpenAI called Musk's latest lawsuit "even more baseless and excessive than the previous one." Meanwhile, Microsoft declined to comment.

"The anti-competitive practice of Microsoft has increased," said Marc Toberoff, Musk's lawyer. "Openness is the best way to solve this problem."

Musk is known to have a tense relationship with OpenAI, the company he founded and is now one of the main faces of generative AI thanks to billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft.

Musk, who is currently playing an important role in Donald Trump's elected presidential government, has been appointed to oversee government spending cuts initiatives after donating millions of dollars to Republican campaigns.

The updated lawsuit states that OpenAI and Microsoft violated antitrust laws by requiring investment opportunities requiring deals not to interact with their competitors. The exclusive license agreement of the two companies is considered to be equivalent to a merger without regulatory approval.

In a court filing last month, OpenAI accused Musk of using this lawsuit as part of an "increasing campaign to weaken OpenAI for his own competitive gain."