Elon Musk targets Microsoft in amended OpenAI lawsuit

Elon Musk has updated his fraud, breach of contract, and racketeering suit against OpenAI to marque antitrust claims against Microsoft, accusing the 2 companies of attempting to “monopolize the generative AI market.” The amended complaint filed connected Thursday names Microsoft arsenic a caller defendant, arsenic good arsenic LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Microsoft VP Dee Templeton, a erstwhile OpenAI committee member.

Microsoft has invested $14 cardinal successful OpenAI since 2019 and holds exclusive rights to commercially licence the AI startup’s exertion and a 49 percent involvement successful its for-profit subsidiary. Musk’s lawyers accidental that erstwhile OpenAI CEO Sam Altman “engaged successful rampant self-dealing” to make a “de facto merger” betwixt the 2 companies to beforehand anticompetitive practices.

The suit argues that OpenAI and Microsoft are “actively trying to destruct competitors” by exchanging “competitively delicate information,” and making their investors refrain from backing rival companies similar xAI, Musk’s AI company. Both companies are competing for backing successful the increasing AI market, with OpenAI securing $6.6 billion successful October to physique much almighty AI models. xAI raised $6 cardinal successful its ain backing round successful March to accelerate its improvement of “future technologies.”

xAI has besides been added to the ailment arsenic a caller plaintiff, alongside erstwhile OpenAI committee subordinate Shivon Zilis — an enforcement astatine Musk’s Neuralink institution and parent of 3 of his 12 children.

We person reached retired to OpenAI and Microsoft for remark connected the amendments.

Musk co-founded OpenAI successful 2015 with Altman and Greg Brockman, who are besides defendants successful the complaint, earlier leaving the institution successful 2018. A erstwhile suit that Musk launched successful March (and dropped without mentation successful June) accused OpenAI of abandoning its founding statement to make AI that volition payment humanity, and claimed its concern with Microsoft made OpenAI a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” focused connected maximizing profits.