OpenAI publishes Elon Musk emails on 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 responded to co-founder Elon Musk on Friday with a new legal filing 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 in the legal feud between OpenAI and Musk. Last month, Musk asked a federal court to stop OpenAI from moving to a for-profit corporate 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 to a for-profit organization.

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

In an image of a November 2015 email, 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 in the blog that 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 OpenAI, last year and has since released the Grok chatbot.

OpenAI also released 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.”

Musk’s latest filing is his fourth attempt in less than a year to “reframe his claims,” ​​OpenAI said in the blog post.

“You cannot sue AGI,” the company wrote in the blog post. “We have great respect for Elon’s accomplishments and gratitude for his early contributions to OpenAI, but he should be competing in the marketplace rather than in the courtroom.”