Despite Elon Musk Suing OpenAI, Sam Altman Calls Musk The 'Greatest Builder Of Our Time'

Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, alleging breach of contract. 

However, personal grievances may be the real reason behind the lawsuit, as OpenAI contests its validity.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman delved into his thoughts on the lawsuit during a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman.

Altman questioned Musk’s motives behind the legal action, highlighting OpenAI’s evolution from a research lab to a funded entity that requires strategic decisions.

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"I don't think open-sourced versus not is not what this is really about to him," Altman said. 

According to Altman, Musk has doubts about OpenAI’s prospects and sought greater influence to steer the company’s direction against the consensus of the team. He also entertained the idea of merging OpenAI with Tesla.

A blog post on OpenAI's website includes screenshots of emails from Musk dating back to 2017. In the emails, Musk advocated for a more expansive approach, including a shift to for-profit ventures to ensure sustainable revenue and attract significant investment.

"A for-profit pivot might create a more sustainable revenue stream over time and would, with the current team, likely bring in a lot of investment. … The most promising option I can think of, as I mentioned earlier, would be for OpenAI to attach to Tesla as its cash cow," Musk wrote in the email. 

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Musk said he left the OpenAI board in February 2018 to prevent potential conflicts with Tesla’s growing emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The rapid success of OpenAI may have prompted Musk to reassess his decision to step away from the organization and potentially fueled his legal actions. Within just two months of its public launch, OpenAI boasted 100 million monthly active users and a valuation of $86 billion.

Musk’s xAI, which introduced Grok, is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Despite Musk’s discontent with OpenAI’s non-open-source nature, Grok was not initially developed as open-source either. It was only after facing criticism on X.com after the lawsuit that Musk announced a transition to an open-source model.

On March 27, OpenAI filed papers seeking dismissal of all of Musk's claims. Altman also has said he wants an amicable relationship with Musk in the future.

"I think this whole thing is unbecoming of a builder, and I respect Elon Musk as one of the greatest builders of our time. And I know he knows what it’s like to have haters attack him and it makes me extra sad he’s doing the toss," Altman said in the interview. 

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