Posted by Anastasha Yee.
Elon Musk is most notably known for being the CEO of Tesla Inc., although he also created OpenAI in 2015 as well as other companies. Due to his many duties in his various areas of work, he realized that OpenAI had drifted philosophically further than he had intended which ultimately led him to leave the company. The reason for leaving the company was due to the fact that Mr. Musk has always had a concern about the risks of AI. Mr. Musk cites that OpenAI has been in a “breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and claims of unfair business practices, among other grievances”. Therefore when the CEO of Tesla Inc. discovered that his former company had prioritized their financial needs before the needs of their customers, Mr. Musk launched a lawsuit. In addition, larger companies such as Microsoft have invested in OpenAI and have been reaping the rewards of the company.
A reason that OpenAI redirected its company philosophy after Mr. Musk left the company was because the new board members had no prior experience or knowledge in AI or technology but in finance or politics. The goal of the lawsuit is to allow the work of OpenAI to be shared with the public for free and to stop other companies from earning financial benefits from a domain that was initially created for the world. Since Mr. Musk no longer has a stake in the company, he is suing from the standing point of a donor of the company. He also claims that the proceeds earned through court would be given to charity.
In this specific event, putting prior bias aside I believe that Mr. Musk is doing the right thing for the public. There are dangers to using AI in a negative format. To withhold such power from the public would not only be dangerous for the people working in the company but also for those wealthy enough to afford the program. There is a possibility that an uprising would occur. This would widen the gap between the classes and with the addition of AI would lead to dangerous matters.
Anastasha is a criminal justice major at Seton Hall University, Class of 2026.