OpenAI filed a countersuit on Wednesday against Tesla CEO Elon Musk, accusing him of a consistent pattern of harassment, seeking to prevent the tech billionaire from engaging in any "further unlawful and unfair action" amid ongoing litigation regarding the future structure of the company that played a pivotal role in the AI revolution.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside CEO Sam Altman but departed before its rise, has recently launched his own AI venture, xAI.
Tensions escalated as Musk attempts to block OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model, which is critical for the company to secure its $40 billion fundraising goal by the end of this year.
"Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the company wrote in a filing in Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in US District Court for the Northern District of California.
OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as to be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused."
The two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year.
In response, Musk's legal team referred to a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium, which OpenAI rejected.
"Had OpenAI's Board genuinely considered the bid as they were obligated to do, they would have seen how serious it was. It's telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI's assets allegedly 'interferes' with their business plans," Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said in a statement provided to Reuters.
In a post on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, OpenAI said: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit."
Musk's xAI acquired X last month in a deal that values the social media company at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X.
Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Musk did not respond to a request for comment on the OpenAI filing.
OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor.
At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race.