The drama between Elon Musk and the AI company he co-founded, OpenAI, just took an explosive turn. In response to Musk’s recent lawsuit accusing OpenAI of straying from its original mission, the startup has fired back with some bombshell revelations about the billionaire’s demands.
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OpenAI Fires Back at Elon Musk’s Claims, Reveals His Demand to Become CEO
According to a blog post from OpenAI on March 5th, Musk wanted much more than just a stake in the company – he allegedly pushed for a complete merger with Tesla and sought to become the CEO of the combined entity.
The post claims that after deciding to create a for-profit arm of OpenAI in 2017 to fund the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), Musk forwarded an email suggesting the startup should “attach to Tesla as its cash cow.”
But that’s not all. OpenAI alleges that Musk wanted a majority equity stake, initial board control, and the top leadership position for himself. Essentially, he was gunning to take over the reins of the company he had co-founded just a few years prior.
Unsurprisingly, OpenAI balked at the idea of any single individual having that level of control, citing concerns that it would go against their mission. The two sides were ultimately unable to agree on terms for the for-profit venture.
In his lawsuit filed last week, Musk accused OpenAI of abandoning its original noble goals of developing AI for the benefit of humanity in favor of profit motives, aided by Microsoft’s billions in funding. He claims the founders initially agreed to work towards artificial general intelligence – machines that can handle tasks like humans.
But OpenAI is hitting back hard, stating they “intend to move to dismiss all of [Musk’s] claims.” They even took a thinly-veiled swipe at the billionaire, saying, “We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired…”
The drama has been simmering for years, with Musk openly criticizing OpenAI’s trajectory and eventually founding his own AI startup, xAI, last July. But with these latest revelations about his apparent power grab, the gloves are truly off.
As the legal battle rages on, one thing is clear – the relationship between Musk and OpenAI has become as fascinating as the cutting-edge AI tech they’ve pioneered. It’s a reminder that even in the realm of artificial intelligence, very human emotions like ambition, pride, and confrontation can still take center stage.
