Elon Musk has decided to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI, the company he helped establish in 2015. Court documents from the Superior Court of California indicate that Musk withdrew the legal action on June 11th, just a day before a scheduled conference to discuss the discovery process.
In March 2024, Musk had filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing them of breaching contracts, engaging in unfair business practices, and failing in fiduciary duty. Musk claimed that he had contributed to the company with the understanding that his assets were dedicated to developing AI for the public good, prioritizing safety.
The lawsuit sought remedies for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair business practices, and accounting, as well as specific performance, restitution, and damages.
Despite OpenAI calling Musk’s claims “incoherent” and pointing out the lack of a contract to support his breach claims, Musk withdrew the lawsuit without providing an explanation. OpenAI argued that the documents provided by Musk contradicted his allegations regarding the terms of their agreement.
Alongside dropping the lawsuit, Musk has been actively opposing Apple’s integration of ChatGPT into its operating systems. He has threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies, citing concerns over security violations.
Despite assurances from Apple and OpenAI regarding user data privacy and security, Musk remains skeptical of Apple’s ability to safeguard data shared with OpenAI. He expressed doubts about Apple’s understanding of data security once it is handed over to OpenAI.
Since initiating the lawsuit against OpenAI, Musk has launched his own AI company, xAI, and secured substantial funding for developing the Grok chatbot on his social network, X.
Although Musk’s reasons for dropping the lawsuit are unclear, his actions suggest a shift towards focusing on his own AI projects while expressing criticism of OpenAI through social media rather than legal avenues.
See also: DuckDuckGo releases portal giving private access to AI models
Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.
Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.
