OpenAI asks state attorneys general to investigate Elon Musk for "anti-competitive conduct"

The Financial News – OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has launched a full-scale legal and public-opinion offensive against Elon Musk, the chief executive of xAI and Tesla.
Ahead of a pivotal trial set for later this month, OpenAI has characterized Musk’s actions as "unfair and anti-competitive conduct" and is urging law-enforcement authorities to step in.
On the 6th (local time), Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) and other foreign media reported that OpenAI had sent letters to the attorneys general of California and Delaware, asking them to investigate the conduct of Musk and his associates.
Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, argued in the letter that "Musk, in coordination with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms, is continuing attacks aimed at weakening OpenAI." He sharply criticized these efforts, saying, "These attacks are an attempt to hijack the future of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which should benefit all of humanity, and hand it over to competitors who lack safety and responsibility."
In the same letter, OpenAI cited a recent report in The New Yorker to lay out specific obstruction efforts by Musk’s camp. According to that report, Musk and his agents targeted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by tracking his flight schedules and travel routes, and by sharing and spreading false allegations of sexual misconduct with rival companies.
OpenAI contends that Musk is deploying the same kind of "harassment tactics" he has used in the past. The company has warned investors that, as the trial approaches, he is likely to make increasingly sensational claims that are not grounded in reality.
OpenAI also took aim at Grok, the AI platform operated by xAI, the company founded by Musk.
The letter cited findings from a global investigation alleging that, as xAI prepares for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), it has allowed the creation of sexually exploitative deepfake images of women, including minors, in order to boost user numbers. OpenAI used this to directly question Musk’s moral integrity.
The letter also mentioned Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), which is preparing for what could be one of the largest stock listings ever, to underscore its view that Musk’s legal offensive is ultimately aimed at advancing his own business interests.
Musk, who was also a co-founder of OpenAI, filed a lawsuit earlier in 2024, claiming that the company had "betrayed its founding principles and deceived me" by moving to become a for-profit enterprise.
OpenAI’s position is that Musk is pursuing a retaliatory lawsuit because he was previously rebuffed when he attempted to merge OpenAI with Tesla.
Jury selection in the case between the two sides is scheduled to begin on the 27th at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (NDCA).
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s head of global affairs, remarked, "It is puzzling why two of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the world (Musk and Zuckerberg) are trying to block the progress of a nonprofit organization," stressing that their actions warrant investigation.

jjyoon@fnnews.com Reporter Yoon Jae-joon Reporter