Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on Monday against OpenAI and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing the ChatGPT-maker of betraying its founding mission of serving the public good in favor of profit-seeking. The lawsuit, submitted in a Northern California federal court, describes the case as a “textbook tale of altruism versus greed.” According to the complaint, Altman and others allegedly “intentionally courted and deceived Musk, exploiting his humanitarian concerns about the existential risks posed by artificial intelligence.”

Musk, an early investor in OpenAI when it was established in 2015, co-chaired its board alongside Altman. In the lawsuit, Musk claims he invested “tens of millions” of dollars and helped recruit top AI research scientists for the company. He resigned from the board in early 2018, a move that OpenAI said at the time was intended to prevent conflicts of interest, as Musk was also recruiting AI talent for Tesla's self-driving technology.

This new legal action follows Musk’s withdrawal of a previous lawsuit against OpenAI in June, which he dropped without explanation. That lawsuit alleged that when Musk initially funded OpenAI, he secured an agreement with Altman and Brockman to keep the organization as a nonprofit, focused on developing technology for the public’s benefit and maintaining open-source code.

In response to the new lawsuit, a spokesperson for OpenAI referenced Musk’s earlier legal filing, which was withdrawn, stating that “Elon’s prior emails continue to speak for themselves.” OpenAI had released emails in March that appeared to show Musk’s earlier support for transitioning the company to a for-profit model.

Musk's latest lawsuit asserts that he and OpenAI’s original mission were “betrayed by Altman and his accomplices.” The complaint describes the alleged deception as being of “Shakespearean proportions.”

Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on Monday against OpenAI and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing the ChatGPT-maker of betraying its founding mission of serving the public good in favor of profit-seeking. The lawsuit, submitted in a Northern California federal court, describes the case as a “textbook tale of altruism versus greed.” According to the complaint, Altman and others allegedly “intentionally courted and deceived Musk, exploiting his humanitarian concerns about the existential risks posed by artificial intelligence.”

Musk, an early investor in OpenAI when it was established in 2015, co-chaired its board alongside Altman. In the lawsuit, Musk claims he invested “tens of millions” of dollars and helped recruit top AI research scientists for the company. He resigned from the board in early 2018, a move that OpenAI said at the time was intended to prevent conflicts of interest, as Musk was also recruiting AI talent for Tesla's self-driving technology.

This new legal action follows Musk’s withdrawal of a previous lawsuit against OpenAI in June, which he dropped without explanation. That lawsuit alleged that when Musk initially funded OpenAI, he secured an agreement with Altman and Brockman to keep the organization as a nonprofit, focused on developing technology for the public’s benefit and maintaining open-source code.

In response to the new lawsuit, a spokesperson for OpenAI referenced Musk’s earlier legal filing, which was withdrawn, stating that “Elon’s prior emails continue to speak for themselves.” OpenAI had released emails in March that appeared to show Musk’s earlier support for transitioning the company to a for-profit model.

Musk's latest lawsuit asserts that he and OpenAI’s original mission were “betrayed by Altman and his accomplices.” The complaint describes the alleged deception as being of “Shakespearean proportions.”