In September 2016, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, interviewed Tesla CEO Elon Musk. At that time, Altman met Musk as the CEO of Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s largest startup incubator. It was about six months after the two established OpenAI in cooperation with former OpenAI chairman Greg Brockman. The purpose of the interview was to explore Musk’s philosophy that would be helpful to junior entrepreneurs as a “successful entrepreneur,” but the topic was focused on OpenAI and Artificial Intelligence, which Musk said “he is spending half his work and time.”
In interviews, Musk stresses several times that he established OpenAI with the aim of ‘democratizing AI technology.’ “Democratizing AI technology means that a certain company or a small number of individuals cannot control advanced AI technology. In my opinion, it is very dangerous. An evil dictator or state could send intelligence agencies to steal it and gain control. So we need to make it widely available through the democratization of AI.” Altman nodded.
During the interview, Altman introduces an anecdote that “I was surprised that Musk gave me a tour of SpaceX and I was well aware of all the details” and asks with curiosity how he can immerse himself in such ‘crazy ideas’ with confidence. However, the relationship between the two, which seemed to be dripping like honey, ended badly. Musk, who cut off all links to OpenAI in 2020, has since publicly expressed his hostility toward OpenAI and Altman. “Whatever that is, I am a person with a style that I do not want to have,” Altman also sarcastically said of Musk. The conflict between the two took a new turn when Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI late last month, claiming that “they violated the establishment contract they signed at the time of their launch.” Whether OpenAI is going the opposite path to its purpose of establishment as Musk claims, and now it is subject to legal judgment. There are a total of 35 pages of collection. The purpose and process of the establishment of OpenAI, which had been known to be fragmented, and the actions since its establishment are described in detail in almost chronological order. Of course, it should be taken into account that it was used from Musk’s perspective. He reviewed the contents of the lawsuit, refutations by OpenAI, and foreign media reports to find out the background, issues and prospects of the lawsuit. Musk carefully explained that he played a special role in the establishment of OpenAI in the beginning of the lawsuit. He may have intended to make him understand that he is fully qualified to file this lawsuit. Here is a summary of his claim. △ OpenAI was named after me. △ It was also “I” who gathered world-class scientists and engineers, including Google genius scientist Ilya Sutsukeber. △ A large portion of the initial funding, including their salaries, was also paid for by the company. Musk explained that he made the company a non-profit corporation and included OpenAI in his mission to develop general artificial intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of the entire human race, not private interests, and not to keep technology private for commercial reasons. He also stated that he donated 44 million U.S. dollars to OpenAI between 2016 and September 2020. “Without Musk’s contribution and early leadership, there would have been no OpenAI,” he said. Altman has never specifically refuted this question. At least, Musk’s contribution to the creation of OpenAI is a fact.It seems that cracks started to form between the two after OpenAI established a profit-seeking subsidiary (OpenAI LP) under the initiative of Altman in 2019. As AI development costs an astronomical amount of money, OpenAI begins to receive investment like any other start-up, putting its profitable subsidiary under a non-profit company. If the subsidiary earns more than a certain amount of money, it will donate it to the non-profit parent company. Musk had resigned as director of OpenAI to concentrate on Tesla, but he continued to donate to OpenAI. Microsoft’s investment seems to have contributed to Musk’s decision to completely cut ties with OpenAI. Microsoft is known to have invested a total of 13 billion U.S. dollars in OpenAI and secured a 49 percent stake. “Currently, OpenAI has effectively become a subsidiary of Microsoft,” Musk argues. He says that Microsoft is maximizing the profits of the world’s largest technology company by providing Microsoft with achievements such as the mega language model GPT-4 behind closed doors. This is a complete betrayal of the company’s founding contract and a violation of OpenAI’s corporate ideology. “Imagine if you donated to a non-profit organization that says its mission is to protect the Amazon rainforest, and it used the donation to set up a for-profit logging company. This is the story of OpenAI,” Musk said. In the end, this is how Musk demanded it through a lawsuit. △OpenAI and Altman acted against the contract at the time of its establishment, and as a result, they deceived me. So please return the full amount of my donation and the profits gained based on it. △OpenAI, please go back to the establishment contract and disclose AI research achievements and technologies to the public and stop pursuing for-profit activities, especially for Microsoft. OpenAI released a rebuttal to Musk’s claim on its website on the 5th. Five co-founders, including Altman, were named. The one-page statement revealed the displeasure that “Musk is now saying something else because OpenAI is doing well.”
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
