OpenAI, the company co-founded by Elon Musk, has released a series of emails that seem to indicate Musk’s approval of the company’s transition to a for-profit model. These emails could potentially weaken Musk’s legal case against the AI venture, according to experts. “I was of the opinion that he was going to lose before, but now, I really can’t see how he could win,” one expert commented.
Musk initiated the legal battle against OpenAI, the company he helped establish. However, OpenAI’s response, filled with evidence, could deal a significant blow to Musk’s lawsuit, experts suggest.
On Tuesday, the AI firm released a batch of emails that it alleges were exchanged between Musk and its other co-founders. These emails seem to suggest that Musk may not have been completely honest in his criticism of OpenAI.
The authenticity of these emails, which were partially redacted, could not be independently verified by Business Insider.
“OpenAI should be renamed ‘super closed source for maximum profit AI,’ because this is what it actually is,” Musk stated in an apparent jab at the company last year during an interview.
Despite Musk’s public statements (and his lawsuit) claiming that he did not agree to OpenAI developing a for-profit branch or moving away from open-source data when he co-founded the company, it appears that Musk not only agreed with the move behind closed doors but also advocated for OpenAI to shift towards a for-profit revenue model. In 2018, Musk even forwarded an email suggesting that OpenAI should “attach to Tesla as its cash cow,” according to the document.
“My probability assessment of OpenAI being relevant to DeepMind/Google without a dramatic change in execution and resources is 0%. Not 1%. I wish it were otherwise,” Musk wrote in one email to OpenAI’s co-founders in 2018, as per the company’s release.
These emails could potentially cause further complications for Musk’s lawsuit.
Experts Doubt Musk’s Chances of Winning
OpenAI’s strong rebuttal is just one of many reasons why Musk may find it difficult to get his lawsuit past a motion to dismiss, experts suggest.
Samuel Brunson, a legal expert in nonprofit law from Loyola University, told Business Insider, “I thought he was going to lose before, but, at this point, I don’t really see a way he could win.”
Without a written contract, Musk already faced a steep challenge in substantiating his argument. In his lawsuit, Musk claimed that OpenAI deviated from its “founding agreement,” using a few emails and the organization’s certificate of incorporation as the basis for the alleged contract.
Brunson pointed out that both sides selectively used emails from around the same time periods, and questioned, “His argument is based off a handful of emails, which begs the question: Why wouldn’t these emails be counted as well?”
David Hoffman, a contract law expert from the University of Pennsylvania, said it’s unlikely Musk’s case would survive a motion to dismiss. The emails would be most damaging to Musk if the case were to go to trial, which is highly unlikely, according to Hoffman.
Kyle Lawrence, a corporate and securities lawyer from Falcon Rappaport & Berkman, told BI that the emails currently serve to counter Musk in the court of public opinion.
“A lot of what Elon Musk was doing was trying to generate negative publicity” for OpenAI, Lawrence said. “So them releasing these emails is perfectly within their rights and it helps them create the narrative that they’d want to have going into a trial — if it gets to that.”
However, OpenAI may still pay a price for Musk’s lawsuit in terms of lost time and resources. This follows a tumultuous few months for OpenAI, which included the CEO’s dismissal and swift return, a board reshuffle, and a series of lawsuits and an investigation by financial regulators.
“I think Musk’s lawsuit is already doing what he intended,” Hoffman said. “This is a distraction for OpenAI. They had to spend time getting this together, which is a non-mission-focused activity and probably not a good use of their time.”
Musk’s lawyers declined to comment. Musk has definitely seen the company’s response though, replying to the company on social media without addressing the contents of the emails.
“Change your name to ClosedAI and I will drop the lawsuit,” Musk wrote on X.
Musk’s lawsuit follows his launch of his own AI company last year. Musk has stated that he invested tens of millions of dollars into OpenAI during its founding but stepped down from the company’s board in 2018.
At that time, Musk stated that he left to avoid a potential conflict of interest with Tesla and its AI efforts.
