Elon Musk has intensified his legal battle with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, by updating his lawsuit to include Microsoft as a defendant. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, accuses the company and Microsoft of monopolistic practices in the AI sector. The revised lawsuit, filed on Thursday, also names LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as a defendant.
The lawsuit claims OpenAI has deviated from its original mission, evolving from a nonprofit organization to what Musk describes as a “market-dominating, $157 billion corporate giant.” Musk alleges that the company’s for-profit pivot has undermined competition, including his own AI startup, xAI, and has unjustly enriched its backers, including Microsoft.
In a statement, OpenAI dismissed the updated allegations as “groundless,” adding that Musk’s repeated legal efforts over the past year lacked merit. They pointed to earlier public disclosures, including Musk’s own communications, which they say undermine his claims.
Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and expanded its partnership significantly in 2023, has declined to comment on the lawsuit. Reid Hoffman has yet to respond to the allegations.
OpenAI was originally founded with the goal of developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) that could rival human capabilities. However, Musk’s complaint argues that the company has abandoned its nonprofit roots, transforming into what he calls a “closed-source subsidiary” of Microsoft. OpenAI has previously stated that Musk supported the shift to a “capped profit” model, which allowed the company to secure additional funding.
The legal challenge comes during a significant week for Musk, who was recently named by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to a new government role focused on reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies.
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