A U.S. jury on Monday found OpenAI not liable in a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk, who claimed the artificial intelligence company had abandoned its original mission to benefit humanity.
Media reports said the jury in a U.S. district court in Oakland, California found that Musk had filed his lawsuit too late and after a statute of limitations to bring his claims had expired.
Musk took to his X platform to say he would be filing an appeal with the Ninth Circuit court.
"Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality. There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is WHEN they did it!" Musk said.
"I will be filing an appeal with the Ninth Circuit, because creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America," he added.
The highly publicized trial started on April 28 and lasted 11 days. Musk alleged that OpenAI wrongfully sought to enrich investors and insiders at the expense of its nonprofit structure and failed to prioritize AI safety. He also claimed that Microsoft was aware OpenAI prioritized financial gain over altruistic goals.
The trial was seen as a major moment for both OpenAI and the artificial intelligence space overall, in terms of the uses and benefits of the technology.
OpenAI argued that Musk pursued the lawsuit for financial reasons and waited too long to claim the company breached its founding agreement to develop safe artificial intelligence for humanity’s benefit.
During closing arguments, Musk’s lawyer Steven Molo told jurors that multiple witnesses questioned the credibility of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman or called him a liar. Molo noted that Musk himself did not give an unqualified yes when asked during the trial if he was completely trustworthy.
The trial centered on questions about how artificial intelligence should be used and who should benefit from it financially. The technology is currently used for education, facial recognition, financial advice, journalism, legal research, and medical diagnoses.
Musk had been an early investor in OpenAI, and him and Altman had been among the founders of the ChatGPT-developer in 2015. Musk left its board in 2018, after having donated $38 million to the company. One of Musk’s chief accusations in his lawsuit was that OpenAI breached a non-profit contract by shifting to a for-profit firm after taking Musk’s money.
source https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/musk-loses-lawsuit-against-openai-and-altman-4696616
