Elon Musk unexpectedly asked to dismiss his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, which claimed the AI company abandoned its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
The filing submitted by Musk's legal team did not provide any reasons for the withdrawal.
The move came just one day before a scheduled court hearing where OpenAI is scheduled to move to ask for the case to be dismissed. The lawsuit asked that the case be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning Musk reserves the option to reactivate the lawsuit in the future.
Musk initially filed the lawsuit at the end of February, claiming that OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015, had shifted its focus from altruistic goals to making profit. OpenAI responded by saying that Musk had previously supported the idea of a for-profit structure and suggested merging with electric car company Tesla.
The dispute escalated earlier this week when Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to enhance its Siri voice assistant and operating systems with OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. Following the announcement, Musk took to his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to criticize the collaboration. “Apple has no idea what actually happens once you hand your data over to OpenAI. They're selling you down the river,” he wrote in one post.
Despite Musk's criticism, investors reacted positively to the news, boosting Apple's market value to a record high of more than $3 trillion.
In July 2023, Musk founded his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, with the goal of “understanding reality.” By November, xAI launched Grok, a chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT and incorporating a touch of humor.
The dismissal of the lawsuit leaves unanswered questions about Musk's future intentions regarding OpenAI and his broader AI ambitions.