OpenAI filed a countersuit against Elon Musk this week. The company stated on X that Musk’s ongoing actions against the company amount to bad-faith strategies to slow down OpenAI and to gain control of leading AI innovations for personal gain.
This is reported by The Verge. In the lawsuit, OpenAI’s lawyers argue that Musk’s persistent attacks on OpenAI, which recently culminated in a fake takeover bid intended to disrupt OpenAI’s future, must stop. They indicate that Musk must be prohibited from further unlawful and unfair acts. The lawyers also state in the indictment that Musk must be held responsible for the damage he has already caused.
Discussion about the OpenAI mission
Musk was once part of the original founding team of OpenAI. He filed a lawsuit in the spring of last year. At the time, he stated that he wanted the company to return to its original mission of developing artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity instead of pursuing profit. The editor-in-chief of The Verge, Nilay Patel, reportedly thought Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI was particularly weak.
Musk dropped the first case in June. However, he filed another lawsuit against OpenAI in August. In December, the attacked company published a blog post stating that Elon Musk previously wanted a more commercial OpenAI, supported by documentary evidence. The case is scheduled for hearing in the spring of 2026.
Takeover bid by Musk
Earlier this year, Musk also made a $97.4 billion bid to take over OpenAI. He indicated that it was time for OpenAI to return to being an open-source, security-oriented force for good, as it once was. The OpenAI board of directors unanimously rejected that bid, and called it a sham offer in the current indictment.