Artificial intelligence research company OpenAI has directly attacked billionaire Elon Musk, accusing him of deceiving the public and releasing private emails to support their case against his “false claims.”
The move marks a dramatic escalation in the increasingly acrimonious battle between the two over control of powerful AI systems.
The statement alleges that in 2015 Musk pledged $1 billion to fund OpenAI but failed to deliver, contributing only $45 million in total before leaving in 2018. It includes an email where Musk writes: “We need to go with a much bigger number than $100M…I will cover whatever anyone else doesn’t provide.”
OpenAI claims Musk pushed for a commercial venture under his control, but they rejected giving any individual “absolute control.” An email shows Musk suggesting OpenAI “attach to Tesla as its cash cow.”
The statement directly contradicts Musk’s recent allegations that OpenAI became a closed operation pursuing profit over open research. It says: “We provide broad access to today’s most powerful AI…Albania is using our tools to accelerate EU accession; Iceland to preserve its language.”
Included is an email exchange where OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever tells Musk: “As we get closer to building AI, it will make sense to start being less open…it’s totally OK to not share the science,” and Musk replies “Yup.”
The statement accuses Musk of attacking OpenAI after he “started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress towards our mission without him.”
It closes defiantly: “We are focused on advancing our mission and have a long way to go. As we continue to make our tools better…we are excited to deploy these systems so they empower every individual.”