A federal judge has rejected requests by OpenAI and its key partner, Microsoft, to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk, setting the stage for a jury trial scheduled for late April. The ruling allows the high-profile legal battle over the direction and governance of the influential AI developer to move forward.
Musk, an original co-founder of OpenAI, alleges the organization betrayed its founding mission to develop AI for humanity's benefit by adopting a for-profit structure and entering a multi-billion dollar partnership with Microsoft. The lawsuit claims breach of contract and that Musk was fraudulently induced to provide early funding based on the premise that OpenAI would remain a non-profit.
While the court dismissed a claim of unjust enrichment against Microsoft, it found enough evidence to let a jury consider whether the software giant knew of potential wrongdoing when forming the partnership. OpenAI has called the lawsuit baseless and part of a pattern of harassment by a competitor.