Elon Musk has unexpectedly requested the dismissal of his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, which alleged that the AI company abandoned its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
The filing, filed by Musk's legal team, did not provide any reason for the withdrawal.
The move came just a day before a scheduled hearing where OpenAI was set to argue for the dismissal of the case. The filing asked for the case to be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning Musk retains the ability to reactivate the lawsuit in the future.
Musk initially filed the lawsuit in late February, claiming that OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015, had shifted its focus from altruistic goals to making a profit. OpenAI responded by stating that Musk had previously supported the idea of a for-profit structure and even proposed a merger with Tesla, his electric car company.
The dispute escalated earlier this week when Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to improve its Siri voice assistant and operating systems using OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. Following the announcement, Musk took to his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to criticize the partnership. In one message he wrote: “Apple has no idea what's actually going on when they transfer your data to OpenAI. They sell you along the river.”
Despite Musk's criticism, investors reacted positively to the news, sending Apple's market value to an all-time high of more than $3 trillion.
In July 2023, Musk founded his own AI company, xAI, with the goal of “understanding reality.” In November, xAI had launched Grok, a chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT and notable for adding a touch of humor.
The lawsuit's dismissal leaves questions unanswered about Musk's future intentions regarding OpenAI and his broader AI ambitions.
