Judge clears the way for jury trial in Musk vs Altman

A California judge has decided that Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, will move forward to trial. The judge rejected OpenAI’s attempts to dismiss the case, stating there was “plenty of evidence,” though largely circumstantial, to support Musk’s claims. Musk alleges that OpenAI misled him regarding its transition from a non-profit to a for-profit model, particularly through its partnership with Microsoft, after he donated $38 million to the company. He seeks monetary damages and the invalidation of Microsoft’s licensing agreement with OpenAI.

OpenAI maintains that Musk was aware of the for-profit plans as early as 2018 and that the company remains under the control of its non-profit arm. They characterized the lawsuit as “baseless” and part of a pattern of harassment. The judge acknowledged strong arguments from the defense but believes a jury should decide the matter. A trial is scheduled for March.

This lawsuit is one of several filed by Musk against OpenAI, including a recent claim by his company, xAI, accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but left in 2018, citing potential conflicts of interest with Tesla’s AI development.

(Source：Google News)