Sam Altman vs Elon Musk: OpenAI says Tesla CEO's claims ‘incoherent’ amid legal battle

Sam Altman-led OpenAI said the claims made by Elon Musk regarding the company are “incoherent”, in its first official reply to his lawsuit.

In its first legal response on the lawsuit filed against it, Microsoft-backed company OpenAI lambasted billionaire Elon Musk for the allegations made against the firm, calling his claims “incoherent". This comes after Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the artificial intelligence startup has strayed from its initial mission.

Elon Musk and OpenAI are embroiled in a legal battle (Getty Images)

Sam Altman-led OpenAI, in a strongly worded court filing, said that it has not violated any of its agreements with Musk, who is one of the investors in the company. Musk in his February lawsuit had posed allegations against OpenAI, chief executive officer Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, claiming that the company is now just a beholden to Microsoft, its biggest investor.

OpenAI said in its court filings that the agreement with the Tesla CEO was not violated because "there is no founding agreement, or any agreement at all with Musk, as the complaint itself makes clear.”

“The relief Musk seeks is as extraordinary as his claims are contrived,” OpenAI said in its filing in San Francisco state court. “Musk requests an order compelling OpenAI to reorganize and distribute its technology in accordance with the terms of his fictitious contract.”

OpenAI also issued a blog post to all its employees and investors, denying Musk's claims against the company. Musk was one of the initial investors of the artificial intelligence company, but had a falling out with the board and its polices. Musk has criticized OpenAI for its commercialisation strategy and its close relationship with Microsoft.

Elon Musk vs OpenAI brings AI safety to focus

The dispute between two of tech’s biggest players touches on core issues of AI safety and accessibility, and has spilled over into the larger startup world. On Monday, billionaire venture capitalist and OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla told Bloomberg TV that Musk could not sue his way to artificial general intelligence.

OpenAI further claimed in its blogpost that Elon Musk had previously pushed for the company to be a part of Tesla Inc, the billionaire's electric car company. It also said in the filing that Musk was in favor of OpenAI operating as a for-profit company, but only if he controlled it.

The AI company's lawyers wrote, “Seeing the remarkable technological advances OpenAI has achieved, Musk now wants that success for himself”. “OpenAI is a lie,” Musk said in an emailed response to a request for comment.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)