OpenAI publishes several of Elon Musk’s internal emails that show he initially favored a for-profit structure

• OpenAI released Elon Musk’s old emails in a blog post on Friday.

• The AI ​​company released its version of a timeline of events amid a brewing legal feud with Musk.

• In a 2015 email, Musk said OpenAI’s nonprofit structure didn’t seem “optimal.”

OpenAI answered co-founder Elon Musk Friday with a new trial and a tip blog post with the billionaire’s old emails in which he pushed for the AI ​​startup to be profitable.

Emails and archiving are the latest blows thrown in the legal realm feud between OpenAI and Musk. Last month, Musk asked a federal court to stop OpenAI from moving to a for-profit business structure. In the past year, Musk has twice sued OpenAI in an attempt to stop the startup from adopting a more traditional business structure.

In a legal filing Friday afternoon, OpenAI accused Musk of trying to stymie the AI ​​startup while it perfects its competitor, xAI.

The company also detailed its version of a timeline of events in a post titled “Elon Musk wanted an OpenAI for profit,” saying Tesla’s CEO “not only wanted, but actually created a for-profit” structure in 2017.

The emails contrast with Musk’s recent public stance against OpenAI transitioning from a non-profit enterprise to a for-profit organization.

Musk did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

In an image from an email from November 2015, Musk wrote to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that the startup’s then-non-profit structure “doesn’t seem optimal,” according to the post.

OpenAI wrote that in the blog the company and Musk both agreed that a for-profit was the next step for the startup in the fall of 2017. But when Musk failed to win a majority stake, OpenAI accused him of walking away, saying the company would “fail.”

Musk left the OpenAI board in 2018, but his lawyers have said he continued to contribute to the company until 2020.

“Now that OpenAI is the leading AI research lab and Elon is running a competing AI company, he is asking the court to stop us from effectively pursuing our mission,” OpenAI wrote this week.

Musk announced xAI, his competitor to OpenAIlast year and has since released the Grok chatbot.

OpenAI too published Musk’s private emails in March after Musk sued OpenAI and Altman.

In a November 2015 email made public earlier this year, Musk said the company should say it started with a $1 billion funding commitment and promised to cover “whatever others don’t provide.”

OpenAI also accused Musk at the time of wanting the startup to merge with Tesla and be its “cash cow”.

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