Musk Escalates OpenAI Fight With Subpoena of Ex-Board Member
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk has stepped up his court fight with OpenAI by demanding documents from ex-board member Helen Toner, who was a key player in the short-lived ousting of OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman last year.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Musk, one of OpenAI’s earliest investors, asked Toner to hand over documents and communications related to her departure from the OpenAI board and the decision to remove and reinstate Altman as CEO of the artificial intelligence giant, according to a filing in DC Superior Court.
The subpoena, which was signed on Tuesday, demanded that Toner hand over information by May 21, 2024.
The request is linked to a lawsuit that Musk brought against OpenAI and Altman last month, claiming that the business had breached its original promise to create artificial intelligence that benefits all mankind when it entered a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft Corp., its largest investor. OpenAI has called Musk’s claim “revisionist history” that is aimed at trying to boost his competing artificial intelligence company.
Musk also asked Toner to provide documents related to how OpenAI decides “whether a technology has achieved artificial general intelligence,” a powerful type of AI that doesn’t yet exist, but that Musk has said could be dangerous if it were developed.
Toner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI declined to comment.
Toner, a director at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, was a central figure in the dramatic firing and re-hiring of Altman last November. A disagreement between Toner and Altman over her perceived criticism of OpenAI in an academic paper, and Altman’s handling of that incident, was one of the few reasons for the CEO’s firing that emerged in the aftermath.
Altman quickly returned to his perch after more than 90% of OpenAI’s staff threatened to quit. Toner left her board seat when Altman rejoined the company. She departed along with fellow director Tasha McCauley. A third member, Quora Inc. CEO Adam D’Angelo, stayed on. He’s now part of the company’s recently expanded board.
In the wake of OpenAI’s leadership tumult, Toner has advocated publicly for requirements that major AI companies share information with the public about the capabilities and risks of the technology they’re building, and collect more data when these tools go awry. She spoke about this topic in April in a talk at the TED conference in Vancouver, saying AI companies should have to “share information about what they’re building, what their systems can do, and how they’re managing risks.”
OpenAI and Musk have been engaged in a well publicized battle since well before the court case. Musk was part of OpenAI’s founding team, before he had a falling out with the company. Musk has frequently criticized the startup for its commercialization strategy and its close relationship with Microsoft.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Modi Is $20 Trillion Short on His Grand Plan for India’s Economy
Biden Strategy to Tame Gas Prices Is in Peril as Iran Sanctions Pressure Mounts
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
