OpenAI writes to the Attorneys General of California and Delaware requesting an investigation into Musk's "anti-competitive behavior"

According to 1M AI News monitoring, OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon sent letters to the attorneys general of California and Delaware on Monday, urging the two states to investigate Elon Musk’s “unfair and anti-competitive conduct” in the process of blocking OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit company. In the letter, Kwon said Musk “has repeatedly tried to seize control of the nonprofit for his personal benefit, but has failed each time,” with the aim of steering the future direction of artificial intelligence.

Weeks after the letter was issued, Musk will face OpenAI and Microsoft in court. Musk accuses OpenAI of betraying its founding mission as a public charity and of planning to become a for-profit company after receiving tens of billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft, with damages sought as high as $134 billion. Kwon warned the two states that the lawsuit could undermine the agreement the states reached with OpenAI when it completed its transition in October last year. As part of that restructuring, OpenAI gave Microsoft 27% equity, while its nonprofit organization still retains control over the for-profit business.

Kwon wrote: “Musk’s lawsuit is not just against OpenAI; it’s about whether the industry still has room for a company bound by its mission and the October agreement, or whether this territory must be handed over to Musk and his co-conspirators.”

A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said they are reviewing the letter. Representatives for Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Musk’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman and others, stepped down from the board in 2018, and founded a competing company, xAI, in 2023. Last year, OpenAI rejected Musk’s unsolicited offer to acquire its nonprofit organization assets for $97.4 billion.