Elon Musk has decided to dismiss his lawsuit, accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman of abandoning the startup’s original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
Musk filed the lawsuit against Altman in February and the case had been slowly making its way through the California court system. As of Tuesday, there were no indications that Musk planned to drop the lawsuit; Just a month ago, his lawyers filed a challenge that forced the judge hearing the case to withdraw.
Musk’s dismissal request did not contain any reason behind the decision. A San Francisco Superior Court judge was scheduled to hear Altman and OpenAI’s argument Wednesday to dismiss the case.
The firing is an abrupt end to a legal battle between two of the most powerful men in the tech world. Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left the board three years later during a fight over control of the company and its direction. As Altman’s star has risen in recent years, the two have become increasingly hostile toward each other.
Musk’s lawsuit revolved around his claim that Altman and OpenAI violated what he called the company’s “founding agreement” to work for the betterment of humanity. He alleged that OpenAI’s pivot to becoming a largely for-profit entity that partnered with Microsoft and did not share its technology with the public constituted a breach of that agreement.
OpenAI and Altman vehemently denied any wrongdoing, stating that no such “founding agreement” existed and posting messages that appeared to show Musk supported becoming a for-profit company. OpenAI and Altman also published a blog in March that essentially accused Musk of professional jealousy, saying “we are sad that we have come to this with someone we deeply admire.”
The Musk Suit attracted skepticism from legal experts who argued that certain claims in the filing, such as that OpenAI had created artificial intelligence at a level that could match human intelligence, did not stand up to scrutiny.