Elon Musk’s Attempt to Merge OpenAI with Tesla or Gain Full Control
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Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, allegedly wanted the AI research company OpenAI to either merge with Tesla or give him full control of the organisation.
A blog post from OpenAI, in response to a lawsuit filed by Musk against the company, revealed email communications from 2015 to 2018 when Musk was still involved with the company’s operations.
In one email from 2017 – as OpenAI was exploring a transition to a for-profit model to secure more funding – Musk reportedly wanted majority equity, control of the board of directors, and the CEO position. However, OpenAI felt this level of control by one individual would go against its mission.
“Elon wanted us to merge with Tesla or he wanted full control,” OpenAI recorded in their blog post. “Elon departed from OpenAI, expressing the necessity for a relevant competitor to Google/DeepMind and asserting that he would take upon himself this task. He confirmed his support for us in finding our own course.”
As the merger negotiations came to a standstill in 2018, Musk proposed that Tesla could provide a financial lifeline for OpenAI. “Tesla stands alone in its ability to present a formidable challenge to Google,” Musk articulated in an email that was forwarded to OpenAI.
However, the blog post acknowledged that these merger or acquisition proposals from Musk did not reach fruition, leading to his exit from the company. Musk, in his last cited email, concluded that in the absence of a radical shift in execution and resources, the chances of OpenAI matching up to DeepMind/Google were virtually nonexistent.
In March 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging breach of contract, fiduciary duty, as well as unfair competition. The lawsuit maintains that OpenAI has metamorphosed into a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft after acquiring an investment of $13 billion from the tech behemoth.
OpenAI refutes the allegations, mentioning that Musk was knowledgeable that the term “Open” in its name didn’t mean it was obliged to render all its AI tech open-source to the general public. The firm expressed disappointment over the fact that the matter has deteriorated into a lawsuit with a person they “greatly appreciate.”
Ilya Sutskever clarifies the significance of “open” in the term “OpenAI” via an email dated January 2016.
The intent was never about going open-source. pic.twitter.com/cyxNOG2IDG
Musk hasn’t yet publicly reacted to the blog post by OpenAI. The legal action aims to impel OpenAI to make its studies freely accessible and ban exclusive deals that favor specific firms.
“Our next step would be to dismiss all claims made by Elon,” states OpenAI.
(Photo by Austin Ramsey on Unsplash)
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Tags: ai, artificial intelligence, elon musk, law, lawsuit, legal, openai, Tesla
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