The latest controversy from the house of Elon Musk — arguably the greatest director in history — centers on the claim that OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit and is therefore prohibited from conducting the kind of commercial activity it pursues today.
Musk went further and filed a formal lawsuit against the company.
Even though it's widely understood that the suit will be dismissed one way or another, he isn't letting go.
In the days following the filing, Musk continued posting particularly pointed jabs at the company, which in turn accused him of frustration over not sharing in its profits.
The general sense is that Musk, as a successful serial entrepreneur, is simply venting his frustration that a company he co-founded became a thriving giant only after he left it. Had he stayed, he could have claimed its success as his own.
But… that's not quite right.
True, Musk is no symbol of psychological stability, and as someone running far too many companies on far too little sleep, he does act irrationally quite often. But in this case, I think there's something to his claims — and a rational objective behind the move.
The company was founded as a nonprofit — that's accurate — and it raised much of its initial capital from… Elon Musk.
The exact figure isn't known, but it's estimated at around $50 million.
The stated mission of the company and its founders was to develop non-commercial artificial intelligence, on the grounds that commercial AI could concentrate far too much power in far too few hands.
That mission was so deeply embedded that one of the most widely cited explanations for Sam Altman's surprise firing was that he had abandoned the company's vision and steered it in an excessively commercial direction.
A few years later, the company is under near-total control of Microsoft, currently the largest company in the world.
It is also generating revenues of many billions of dollars, with everyone understanding this is only the beginning.
While Microsoft's investors celebrate their gains and the company's board celebrates a kind of dominion over humanity's future, Elon Musk stands on the sidelines watching helplessly as his money — money intended to guard against a corporate AI monster — became the very funding source for that exact monster, while he doesn't even get his initial investment back.
I'm not a mind reader, but I suspect Musk is pursuing a concrete outcome from this lawsuit, one that could take several forms:
1. Credit
Musk may be seeking historical justice and more meaningful recognition of his contribution to the creation of artificial intelligence and the transformation of humanity.
2. Information
Musk may demand access to the company's source code, in whole or in part. Such access would allow him to significantly accelerate the AI capabilities he is developing himself, and combined with the vast data assets he holds from Twitter and Tesla vehicles, his model could become a genuine competitor in the market.
3. Money
This is the least likely scenario — that Musk will seek an agreed-upon settlement from the company, whether in the form of equity or a one-time payment.
Musk is not short on money at the moment, and if this goal exists at all, it's almost certainly last on the list.
How will the story end?
There's no way to know, but Musk is certainly holding his place at the top of the news cycle.
*(Photo: Fournis par Clubic)*