Elon Musk has withdrawn his lawsuit against OpenAI and its co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, just a day before a scheduled court hearing in California.
This unexpected move by Elon Musk follows his public opposition to the new collaboration between OpenAI and Apple, indicating a well-thought-out strategy in his approach to the AI industry.
Filed in February, Musk’s lawsuit accused OpenAI of breach of contract and fiduciary duty, alleging that the company had strayed from its original mission of developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of humanity.
Elon Musk argued that OpenAI had instead transformed into a for-profit entity dominated by Microsoft, its principal shareholder. Legal experts, however, viewed Musk’s case as tenuous, noting that the alleged “Founding Agreement” was not a formal contract but rather a collection of understandings communicated through emails.
Musk’s decision to drop the suit, which was dismissed without prejudice, allows him the option to refile it in the future.
This development coincides with his recent statements threatening to ban Apple devices from his companies if Apple integrates OpenAI’s technology at the operating system level.
The backdrop to this legal drama is Musk’s own AI venture, xAI, which he founded last year as a direct competitor to OpenAI. xAI recently secured a $6 billion Series B funding round, attracting investment from major firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Fidelity Management & Research Company.
The company aims to “understand the true nature of the universe,” according to its mission statement, and has already launched Grok, a chatbot inspired by “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
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