Source: Elon Musk drops suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman
Elon Musk on Tuesday withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI and two of the company’s co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, in California state court. Musk’s decision to file to dismiss the suit came just one day after he publicly criticized OpenAI and its new partnership with Apple.
In February, Musk had filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman and Brockman — the current CEO and president of OpenAI, respectively — for breach of contract and fiduciary duty.
A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in San Francisco, in which the judge was going to consider whether the case should be dismissed as requested by the defendants.
Experts told CNBC in March that the case was built on a questionable legal foundation, because the contract at the heart of the suit was not a formal written agreement that was signed by all parties involved.
Rather, Musk had alleged that the early OpenAI team had set out to develop artificial general intelligence, or AGI, “for the benefit of humanity,” but that the project has been transformed into a for-profit entity that’s largely controlled by principal shareholder Microsoft.
Musk had used much of the 35-page complaint (plus attached exhibits) he filed in March to remind the world of his position in the creation of a company that’s since become one of the hottest startups on the planet, (OpenAI ranked first on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list in 2023) thanks largely to the viral spread of ChatGPT.
“It’s certainly a good advertisement for the benefit of Elon Musk,” Kevin O’Brien, partner at Ford O’Brien Landy LLP and former assistant U.S. attorney, told CNBC at the time. “I’m not sure about the legal part though.”
周二，埃隆·马斯克在加州法院撤回了对 OpenAI 以及该公司两位联合创始人萨姆·奥尔特曼 (Sam Altman) 和格雷格·布罗克曼 (Greg Brockman) 的诉讼。就在马斯克公开批评 OpenAI 及其与苹果的新合作关系一天后，他决定撤诉。 今年 2 月，马斯克对 OpenAI、Altman 和 Brockman（分别是 OpenAI 现任首席执行官和总裁）提起诉讼，指控其违反合同和保密义务。 听证会定于周三在旧金山举行，法官将考虑是否应按照被告的要求撤销此案。 专家在三月份告诉 CNBC，该案的法律基础值得怀疑，因为该诉讼的核心合同并不是所有相关方签署的正式书面协议。 马斯克称，早期的 OpenAI 团队曾着手开发通用人工智能（AGI）是“为了人类的利益”，但该项目已转变为主要由大股东微软控制的营利性实体。 马斯克用他 3 月份提交的 35 页投诉书（以及随附的证物）大部分内容来提醒全世界，他在创建这家公司时所扮演的角色，这家公司后来成为地球上最热门的初创公司之一（OpenAI 在 CNBC 的节目2023 年颠覆者 50 强名单排名第一）很大程度上要归功于 ChatGPT 的病毒式传播。 福特奥布莱恩兰迪律师事务所合伙人、前美国助理检察官凯文·奥布莱恩当时对 CNBC 表示：“这对于埃隆·马斯克来说无疑是一则很好的广告。不过我不确定法律部分。”
