OpenAI has written to the California and Delaware attorneys general encouraging them to investigate the alleged “improper and anti-competitive behavior” of xAI founder Elon Musk, and his associates. 

Strategy Chief Jason Kwon at OpenAI has written the letter which suggests Musk has been working, alongside individuals including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to deliberately undermine the OpenAI business. 

Kwon flagged that this behaviour could have significant impacts on the business, including inhibiting their efforts to achieve artificial general intelligence (the ability for a system to understand, learn, and perform any intellectual task that a human being can), otherwise known as AGI. 

Achieving AGI was one of the conditions of Amazon’s recent investment in OpenAI – presenting significant repercussions for the company should they miss these key milestones. 

Kwon wrote in the letter, “These attacks are designed to take control of the future of AGI out of the hands of those who are legally obligated to pursue the mission of ensuring that AGI benefits all of humanity, and put it into the hands of competitors who lack mission-driven principles and spurn any responsibility for safety”. 

A recent report from The New Yorker was highlighted in the letter, which suggested that Musk and his associates had conducted extensive opposition research on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, tracking flights and his movements, and circulating this information. The alleged anti-competitive behaviour is said to extend to circulating false allegations of sexual misconduct by the OpenAI CEO too.

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The letter comes just weeks ahead of jury selection for a trial wherein Musk is suing OpenAI for changing their business structure.

Musk is alleging that OpenAI betrayed its non-profit mission and defrauded him by abandoning its non-profit roots, after he had made charitable donations to the AI lab a decade ago. Musk co-founded the company alongside Altman in 2015 but left in 2018. 

Musk is suing the organisation for $134 billion, but claims any legal winnings will be donated to charity.

With the trial looming and rivalry increasing across the AI sector, the letter highlights growing tensions over the control of AI developments and raises broader questions about competition, governance and the future of these technologies.