NEW YORK -- Elon Musk filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Monday, re-opening a legal battle in his fights over artificial intelligence.
Musk 鈥� who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 鈥� , accusing the ChatGPT maker of abandoning its original nonprofit mission by reserving some of its most advanced AI technology for private customers. He then , without explanation, after OpenAI published old emails from Musk that revolved around OpenAI鈥檚 creation.
The new lawsuit, filed against OpenAI, Altman and co-founder Gregory Brockman, made the same claims. While the first lawsuit was filed in California state court, the new one was filed in federal court in Northern California and is nearly double in length. In contrast to the original suit, it includes claims that OpenAI is engaging in racketeering activity.
鈥淭his lawsuit bursts Defendants hot-air philanthropy and holds them accountable for their misrepresentations to Musk and the public. It concerns far more that a $100 billion start-up, the future of AGI lies in the balance,鈥� Musk鈥檚 lawyer Marc Toberoff said in a statement Monday.
The lawsuit alleges that Musk was 鈥渂etrayed by Altman and his accomplices. The perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions.鈥�
A high-profile last year resulted in Altman鈥檚 abrupt firing as CEO, followed by his swift re-instatement, but this time with Microsoft gaining a non-voting seat on OpenAI鈥檚 board. The tech stalwart also has a multi-billion-dollar investment in OpenAI.
Microsoft subsequently in July, after regulatory scrutiny from Europe, Britain and the United States.
The 83-page lawsuit claims OpenAI鈥檚 partnership with Microsoft 鈥渇lipped the narrative鈥� of the company鈥檚 original mission.
鈥淚n partnership with Microsoft, Altman established an opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates, engaged in rampant self-dealing, seized OpenAI, Inc.鈥檚 Board, and systematically drained the non-profit of its valuable technology and personnel,鈥� the lawsuit said.
CNN has reached out to OpenAI for comment. But in March, the company swiftly mocked Musk鈥檚 original claims, calling them 鈥渋ncoherent鈥� and 鈥渇rivolous鈥� and arguing in a court filing that the case should be dismissed. The company also that included several of Musk鈥檚 emails from OpenAI鈥檚 early days. The emails appeared to show Musk acknowledging the need for the company to make large sums of money to fund the computing resources needed to power its AI ambitions, which stood in contrast to the claims in his lawsuit that OpenAI was wrongly pursuing profit.
Musk鈥檚 lawyers dropped the lawsuit without explanation after the company published those emails.
Musk is not the only one scrutinizing OpenAI. The Federal Trade Commission is . The Securities and Exchange Commission also probed whether OpenAI investors were misled, . And in recent months, multiple high-profile OpenAI safety leaders , with several publicly claiming the company had prioritized quickly rolling out new products over safety.
The new lawsuit claims Altman and Brockman 鈥渕anipulated鈥� Musk into co-founding OpenAI.
鈥淓lon Musk鈥檚 case against Sam Altman and OpenAI is a textbook tale of altruism versus greed. Altman, in concert with other Defendants, intentionally courted and deceived Musk, preying on Musk鈥檚 humanitarian concern about the existential dangers posed by artificial intelligence,鈥� the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks 鈥渁 constructive trust on Defendants鈥� ill-gotten gains, property, and assets traceable to Musk鈥檚 significant contributions to OpenAI鈥� and that 鈥渁 judicial determination that OpenAI, Inc.鈥檚 licence to Microsoft is null and void.鈥�
CNN鈥檚 Clare Duffy and Brian Fung contributed to this report.
