Elon Musk sought a possible agreement with the OpenAI two days before the start of your trial against the creator of ChatGPT last week, according to a new court document from OpenAI.
“to gauge interest in a deal” on April 25, according to a document filed by OpenAI on Sunday night.
The trial, which could impact the AI raceto , began last week in federal court in Oakland, California.
“When Mr. Brockman responded by suggesting that both sides withdraw their respective claims, Mr. Musk retorted: ‘By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, it will be so,'” the document states.
Musk sued OpenAI and its leaders, claiming they violated a philanthropic trust agreement and unjustly enriched themselves by transitioning from a nonprofit to its current structure.
The AI company is now a for-profit corporation, overseen by a nonprofit foundation.
Musk, who helped co-found and fund OpenAI, claimed in his statement that the company was to help create what is now one of the largest AI companies in the world, accusing them of “stealing from a charity.”
OpenAI alleges that Musk pushed for a for-profit structure and is only taking legal action to take down a competitor after failing to maintain control of the company. Musk left the OpenAI board in 2018 and founded his own AI company, called xAI, in 2023.
“This tends to prove motivation and bias and, in particular, that Mr. Musk’s motivation in pursuing this lawsuit is to attack a competitor and its directors,” the lawyers wrote in the document.
But Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied the request, telling OpenAI’s lawyers that they should have introduced it as evidence during Musk’s testimony.
Musk’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Altman said on the Core Memory podcast last month that he feared Musk would drop the case shortly before the trial, leaving him and OpenAI without the opportunity to present their version of events.
OpenAI’s lawyers, who at times clashed with Musk in court last week, presented evidence they said showed Musk wanted a for-profit company, including evidence that he instructed his associates to register a company in OpenAI’s name.
Musk’s lawyers presented messages from 2022 in which Musk told Altman that OpenAI’s valuation at $20 billion following the company’s $10 billion investment Microsoft It felt like a “bait and switch.”
“I agree it’s a bad feeling,” Altman responded, before noting that Musk turned down the equity stake OpenAI offered him.
Brockman, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other prominent figures in the technology industry are also expected to testify in the coming weeks.
