The latest volley was fired Wednesday in the ongoing legal battle between the world’s biggest tech titans — with Sam Altman complaining in court papers that Elon Musk has “no facts” to back his claim that OpenAI is unlawfully quashing the competition.
“No facts support the existence of this conspiracy,” a lawyer for Altman wrote in a 33-page court filing to a federal judge in Oakland, California.
Musk also hasn’t shown he has been harmed in any way by what he alleges are OpenAI’s anti-competitive actions, Altman’s lawyer argued.
Musk’s 107-page lawsuit accuses Altman of fraud, self-dealing, and “unfair competition.”
“He claims he will suffer irreparable harm absent judicial intervention, but provides no plausible account of how or why,” Altman’s lawyer, Jordan Eth, wrote in Wednesday’s filing.
The filing is Altman’s response to Musk’s request that US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers order an immediate halt to what Musk alleges is OpenAI’s unfair and illegal restraint on its competitors.
Musk wants Gonzalez Rogers to immediately block OpenAI’s ongoing transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity. Musk also wants the judge to bar OpenAI from mandating that its investors not invest in competing tech companies, including Grok, the chatbot developed by Musk’s own AI company, xAI.
Lawyers for Musk and Altman last sparred in the lawsuit a week ago, at a virtual hearing before Gonzalez Rogers. The judge voiced skepticism at the hearing over Musk’s “irreparable harm” claims, at one point summing up the warring factions this way: “I have billionaires versus billionaires.”
“How can I say as a matter of law there is a likely restraint on trade when your client has raised $11 billion?” for xAI, she asked Musk attorney Marc Toberoff.
Wednesday’s filing by Altman’s side echoed the judge’s skepticism.
“Leveraging Musk’s influence, and the ‘web of companies’ under his control, xAI has become a major player in a highly competitive industry, raising capital at unprecedented speed and scale,” Altman’s filing said.
Musk’s startup “increased its valuation to $50 billion in a new funding round last month, making it the second most valuable private AI developer behind OpenAI,” the filing said.
Musk has used that investment infusion to quickly build “what is believed to be the world’s largest supercomputer, dubbed ‘Colossus,‘” Altman’s filing said.
Granting the “sweeping” relief sought by Musk “would debilitate OpenAI’s business, board deliberations, and mission to create safe and beneficial AI — all to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company,” the filing added.
The judge has not said when she will be ruling on Musk’s request. A lawyer for Musk did not immediately return a request for comment.
Altman and his codefendants have also asked the judge to dismiss Musk’s now nearly year-old lawsuit in its entirety — a separate paperwork battle that is scheduled to continue into late May.
The judge said last week that the parties should be prepared for trial at the end of next year at the earliest.
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