ELon Musk is suing OpenAI and Sam Altman for abandoning humanity

Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing them of deviating from the startup's original goal of using AI for human advancement.

Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the firm that creates ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that they have strayed from the startup's original objective of using artificial intelligence to advance humankind rather than for profit.

The billionaire is at odds with the business he co-founded and is now the face of generative AI, partly because of Microsoft's billions of dollars in backing over the lawsuit filed late on Thursday in San Francisco.

Musk claimed a breach of contract, claiming that while Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman initially sought him to create an open-source, nonprofit organization, the 2015 venture is now primarily concerned with turning a profit.

He requested a court order compelling OpenAI to release its technology and research to the public and prohibiting the startup from using its resources — including its most sophisticated AI model, GPT-4 — for Microsoft or any other person's financial advantage.

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX and operates Tesla and rocketry, purchased Twitter for $44 billion US in October 2022. Musk has previously advocated for artificial intelligence legislation. 

Microsoft has chastised Altman for its connections to the startup, after he left the OpenAI board in 2018. The boardroom conflict last year led to Altman's return and a new temporary board, and the connection is currently under investigation for antitrust violations in the US and UK.