OpenAI and Microsoft have been accused of engaging in anticompetitive conduct in a recent petition.
On Friday, the legal team representing Elon Musk submitted a petition for an injunction against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging both companies of engaging in anticompetitive conduct and attempting to prevent OpenAI from transitioning into a for-profit subsidiary. Additionally named as defendants in the petition are OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Microsoft’s Dee Templeton, and Reid Hoffman, who is also a co-founder of LinkedIn. TechCrunch was the first to discover the filing. Earlier this year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company had violated its founding objective of developing artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity.” However, Musk later abandoned the complaint a few months later. Following that, in August, he filed a second complaint against OpenAI in a federal court in the state of California. More recently, he added Microsoft as a defendant in the case.
In the new petition, OpenAI and Microsoft are accused of telling investors not to finance OpenAI’s competitors, such as Musk’s xAI, of “benefiting from wrongfully obtained competitively sensitive information or coordination” as a result of their relationship with Microsoft, in addition to other alleged violations of antitrust laws. In the report, it is stated that “OpenAI’s path from a non-profit to a for-profit behemoth is replete with per se anticompetitive practices, flagrant breaches of its charitable mission, and rampant self-dealing.” Should this pattern of behavior be allowed to continue until the final decision is reached, it will cause Plaintiffs and the general public to suffer significant harm.
This news comes a few months after it was reported that OpenAI is transitioning to a business strategy that is focused on earning a profit. In response to Musk’s most recent filing, an OpenAI spokeswoman issued a statement that was shared with Engadget. The statement read, “Elon’s fourth attempt, which again recycles the same baseless complaints, continues to be utterly without merit.”