While Elon Musk has been vocal today about his criticism of the Apple/OpenAI deal, he has also taken steps to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI, according to a recent court filing. Musk’s attorney, Morgan Chu, filed a notice with the Superior Court of California in San Francisco requesting the dismissal of Musk’s entire complaint without prejudice.
The reasons behind Musk’s decision remain unclear. Previously, Musk’s lawsuit accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman of deviating from its initial nonprofit mission by establishing a for-profit subsidiary. The suit also claimed that OpenAI violated its founding agreement to make significant AI advancements publicly accessible. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and left the company in 2018, alleged in the lawsuit, “OpenAI Inc.’s website continues to profess that its charter is to ensure that AGI ‘benefits all of humanity’. In reality, however, OpenAI Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft.”
Musk had requested a 10-day jury trial seeking an injunction and maximum punitive damages. However, OpenAI countered that Musk was not entitled to any relief. The organization argued that Musk’s complaint lacked a valid claim for breach of contract.
The request for dismissal comes just a day before the discovery phase was set to begin. OpenAI had objected to some of Musk’s discovery requests for confidential information, sparking disputes over protective order terms. By dropping the lawsuit, OpenAI avoids potentially disclosing internal documents to Musk and the public.
Although Musk has not posted about the dismissal on his social media platform X, he continues to target the recent OpenAI/Apple deal. OpenAI had previously released a blog post clarifying its relationship with Musk, revealing that he had suggested aligning OpenAI with Tesla for financial support.
This development might indicate that Musk is shifting his focus while maintaining his critical stance toward OpenAI’s current direction and partnerships.