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Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

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Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#161

TL;DR for those wondering, as I was, why Musk would have any kind of plausible claim against OpenAI, the main claim is breach of contract on the "Founding Documents" of OpenAI, Inc. (the original nonprofit funded by Musk). > Plaintiff contributed tens of millions of dollars, provided integral advice on research directions, and played a key role in recruiting world-class talent to OpenAI, Inc. in exchange and as consi…

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Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#162
post #121
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 30 or so submissions of this story all set off a bunch of software penalties that try to prune the most repetitive and sensational stories off the front page. Otherwise there would be a lot more repetition and sensationalism on the fp, which is the opposite of what HN is for (see explanations via links below if curious). The downside is that we have to manually override the penalties in the case of a genuinely im…

Sometimes I wish you'd prune the users (at least from submission privileges) who can't be bothered to search first, which is how you get these n-fold submissions.

I mean if it's on reddit or other platforms, one could do some simple search for them before they submit the post and prompt "seems like this article has already been submitted" and a checkmark if they want to bypass it.

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#163

Wouldn't you have to prove damages in a lawsuit like this? What damages does Musk personally suffer if OpenAI has in fact broken their contract?

You can sue for many reasons. For example, when a party breaks a contract, the other party can sue to compel the contract to be performed as agreed.

Specific performance is a last resort. In contract law, the bias is towards making the plaintiff whole, and frequently there are many ways to accomplish that (like paying money) instead of making the defendant specifically honor the terms of the original agreement.

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#164

Allowing startups to begin as non-profits for tax benefits, only to 'flip' into profit-seeking ventures is a moral hazard, IMO. It risks damaging public trust in the non-profit sector as a whole. This lawsuit is important

I live in Pittsburgh, and UPMC’s nonprofit status as they make billions in profits and pay their executives fortunes, is a running joke. With the hospitals and universities as the biggest employers and land owners here, a big chunk of the cities financial assets are exempt from contributing to the city budget.

If they are non-profit, they do not make billions in profits. I suspect you mean revenue :)

Exec compensation is another thing, but also not a concern I am super sympathetic to given that for profit companies of similar magnitude generally pay their execs way more they just are not required to report it.

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#165

The defendant list is a bit bewildering. How usual is a corporate structure like this? Which, if any of these, is the nonprofit? OPENAI, INC., a corporation, OPENAI, L.P., a limited partnership, OPENAI, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI GP, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI OPCO, LLC, a limited liability company, OPENAI GLOBAL, LLC, a limited liability company, OAI CORPORATION, LLC, a limited liab…

The NYT lawsuit lists the same organizations: https://nytco-assets.nytimes.com/2023/12/NYT_Complaint_Dec20...

According to https://openai.com/our-structure the non-profit is "OpenAl, Inc. 501(c)(3) Public Charity".

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#166

Has there been a successful suit against a company for "abandoning their founding mission"? Does anyone think that this suit will succeed? Another article: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/01/elon-musk...

When the world’s richest man sues you, being a saint wouldn't be a reliable defence.

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#167

The defendant list is a bit bewildering. How usual is a corporate structure like this? Which, if any of these, is the nonprofit? OPENAI, INC., a corporation, OPENAI, L.P., a limited partnership, OPENAI, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI GP, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI OPCO, LLC, a limited liability company, OPENAI GLOBAL, LLC, a limited liability company, OAI CORPORATION, LLC, a limited liab…

*defendant list

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#168

The defendant list is a bit bewildering. How usual is a corporate structure like this? Which, if any of these, is the nonprofit? OPENAI, INC., a corporation, OPENAI, L.P., a limited partnership, OPENAI, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI GP, L.L.C., a limited liability company, OPENAI OPCO, LLC, a limited liability company, OPENAI GLOBAL, LLC, a limited liability company, OAI CORPORATION, LLC, a limited liab…

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Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#169
Most important question: why did he file this lawsuit? What does he intend to gain out of it?

Is it a first step towards acquiring/merging OpenAI with one of his companies? He's offered it to buy once before, in 2018 [0]. (He's also tried to buy DeepMind—page 10 the OP filing).

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/24/23654701/openai-elon-musk... ("Elon Musk reportedly tried and failed to take over OpenAI in 2018")

Re: Elon Musk sues Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI [pdf]

#170
post #150

While I have no doubt everything in the complaint is correct, it's hard to see it as Elon being genuinely concerned about open and safe AI vs just having FOMO that he isn't part of it anymore and doesn't get to call the shots. For example his own AI startup is exactly as closed off and unregulated as OpenAI. Why is that not equally concerning?

I don't want to be in the position of defending Elon Musk, but in this case his complaint seems to be that OpenAI claims one thing and does another. If X.ai started out telling everyone it's for-profit and closed off, then it's not hypocritical at all for it to be that. It's something else, sure.
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