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ChatGPT creator OpenAI slams Elon Musk’s claims as ‘incoherent’ in Microsoft-backed start-up’s first legal response to tech billionaire’s lawsuit

  • In its court filing, OpenAI said it had ‘no founding agreement, or any agreement at all with Musk, as the complaint itself makes clear’
  • The start-up also indicated that the relief Musk seeks ‘is as extraordinary as his claims are contrived’

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Elon Musk claims OpenAI had strayed from its mission to build responsible artificial intelligence and that the start-up had become beholden to its largest investor, Microsoft Corp. Photo: Reuters
Bloomberg
ChatGPT creator OpenAI has lambasted Elon Musk’s allegations against it, saying in a court filing that the billionaire entrepreneur’s claims “rest on convoluted – often incoherent – factual premises”.
The strongly worded filing is OpenAI’s first legal response to Musk’s February lawsuit against the start-up, chief executive Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman. Musk alleged the start-up had strayed from its mission to build responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and that it had become beholden to Microsoft Corp, its largest investor.

In the filing, OpenAI said that it did not violate its agreement with Musk because “there is no founding agreement, or any agreement at all with Musk, as the complaint itself makes clear”. OpenAI also denied Musk’s claims in a memo to staff and a blog post last week.

“The relief Musk seeks is as extraordinary as his claims are contrived,” OpenAI said in its filing in San Francisco state court. “Musk requests an order compelling OpenAI to reorganise and distribute its technology in accordance with the terms of his fictitious contract.”

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is seen in an interview with Bloomberg at the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January16, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is seen in an interview with Bloomberg at the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January16, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

OpenAI and Musk have been engaged in a well publicised battle since well before the court case. Musk was an early backer of the start-up and part of its founding team, before he had a falling out with the company. Musk has criticised OpenAI for its commercialisation strategy and its close relationship with Microsoft.

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