'I’m a fool essentially providing free funding to OpenAI,' Elon Musk once told Sam Altman

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and co-founder of OpenAI, has filed an amended lawsuit against the organization and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing OpenAI of abandoning its original non-profit mission. Musk claims this shift contradicts the founding principles of the organization. The lawsuit references email exchanges between Musk and OpenAI leadership, revealing long-standing internal disputes over funding and direction.

Musk, who was OpenAI's largest financial supporter in its early years, contributed over $44 million between 2016 and 2020. This funding was crucial to OpenAI's formation and development. The lawsuit emphasizes that without Musk's financial backing and support, OpenAI would not have existed. Additionally, Musk provided office space in San Francisco and covered operational costs, even after he stepped down from the board in 2018.

In 2016, OpenAI's leadership, including Altman, struck a deal with Microsoft for discounted computing services. Musk, however, rejected the deal, which required OpenAI to publicly endorse Microsoft's products. The lawsuit argues that the organization's transition to a for-profit model undermines its mission to ensure that AI remains widely accessible and beneficial to society.

Musk expressed concerns about the monopolization of AI technologies, emphasizing the need for caution in AI development and the importance of keeping its power distributed, rather than controlled by a single entity. This was the core reason OpenAI was founded.