Elon Musk vs. OpenAI: The Battle Over Altruism and Greed

Elon Musk initiated legal action against OpenAI and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, on Monday, alleging a deviation from the firm's initial aims of public good towards profit-making.

The Northern California federal court filing framed Musk's case as a classic conflict between altruism and greed. The complaint accused Altman and others of deceptive practices to exploit Musk's humanitarian concerns about artificial intelligence risks.

Musk, an early investor in OpenAI, noted in the lawsuit that his substantial financial contributions and recruitment of top AI scientists were compromised. Musk resigned from OpenAI's board in 2018 to avoid conflicts of interest and recently withdrew a previous lawsuit without explanation. He argues that Altman betrayed OpenAI's founding principles.

(With inputs from agencies.)