\n
![](\"https:\/\/content.fortune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-491587260-e1709336480973.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
OpenAI \u201ccategorically disagrees\u201d with the lawsuit\u00a0Elon Musk\u00a0filed against the company, according to an internal memo sent to employees of the artificial intelligence startup.<\/p>\n
Musk, a cofounder of OpenAI who is no longer involved in the company,\u00a0sued OpenAI<\/a>\u00a0and its Chief Executive Officer\u00a0Sam Altman\u00a0late Thursday, alleging the company\u2019s close relationship with\u00a0Microsoft Corp.<\/a>\u00a0has undermined its original mission of creating open-source technology that wouldn\u2019t be subject to corporate priorities.<\/p>\n OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon pushed back at Musk\u2019s suggestion that the startup is \u201ca de facto subsidiary\u201d of investor Microsoft<\/a> and said the billionaire\u2019s claims \u201cmay stem from Elon\u2019s regrets about not being involved with the company today,\u201d according to a copy of the memo obtained by Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n In a separate memo, also seen by Bloomberg, Altman called Musk a hero of his and said he misses the person he knew who competed with others by building better technology.<\/p>\n OpenAI declined to comment on the lawsuit or the two memos.<\/p>\n Musk is suing for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and claims of unfair business practices, among other grievances. He is bringing the suit in the capacity of a donor to OpenAI\u2019s nonprofit parent organization as recently as 2019 and is seeking to force OpenAI to stop benefitting Microsoft and Altman personally.<\/p>\n Kwon pointed out in the memo that the company\u2019s mission \u201cis to ensure AGI benefits all humanity,\u201d using a term that refers to theoretical software that can perform a wide range of tasks better than a human can. Kwon also said OpenAI is independent and competes directly with Microsoft.<\/p>\n Kwon also said he wanted to update employees on \u201cinquiries from government agencies,\u201d in an apparent reference to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission that kicked off after the brief ousting of Altman by the company\u2019s board late last year.<\/p>\n Kwon didn\u2019t mention the agency by name, but said that \u201cafter the events of last November, they asked us for information and this matches what we\u2019d expect given the circumstances.\u201d Kwon said the company is cooperating with the government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n