OpenAI slams Elon Musk over ‘legal ambush’ ahead of $100B trial

OpenAI has slammed Elon Musk for unpredictably amending the lawsuit, equating the move with a “legal ambush” ahead of a mega $100 billion worth trial.

According to OpenAI’s statement in a court filing, Elon Musk is trying to undermine the defendants and destabilise the legal proceedings by proposing unjustified objectives. He is also making efforts to reshape the public perception of his lawsuit.

The statement comes after Elon Musk, earlier this week, sought the removal of CEO Sam Altman’s from the OpenAI non-profit's board in a recent amendment.

In a significant pivot to his ongoing legal battle, the founder of xAI also requested that any potential damages be redirected to the organization’s charitable arm instead of his own pockets. Musk also asked the court to supervise OpenAI’s finances and future transactions, so the company cannot be derailed from its motive.

This latest manoeuvre underscores the deepening rift between the two tech moguls, with a trial looming later this month on April 27 in Oakland, California.

OpenAI said in Friday’s filing that these eleventh- hour proposals are “legally improper and factually unsupported.”

“Musk’s proposed amendment would require the presentation of different evidence and different witnesses than the case he sponsored until three days ago,” OpenAI’s lawyers wrote.

In this mega trial, Musk is seeking more than $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft on the grounds of key allegations regarding defrauding. According to Musk, the company has abandoned its original mandate to develop open-source Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

The CEO of SpaceX also claimed that he was being tricked into providing $38 billion early funding allegedly for non-profit structure. However, in reality, the model was purely based on profit-based commercial structure.