[Into the World of AI] Musk Sparks Rumors of a Microsoft-OpenAI Split

Musk and Altman Prepare for a Legal Showdown
OpenAI Counters the "MS Subsidiary" Allegation

There are growing observations that the close relationship between Microsoft (MS) and OpenAI is breaking down and that the two companies are preparing to part ways. While both sides have previously insisted that "there are no issues with the partnership" whenever signs of discord were detected, these observations are gaining traction as the lawsuit involving Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, becomes more serious.

"OpenAI Has Lost Its Original Intent" vs "Elon Musk's Interference"

According to industry sources on April 25, the lawsuit Musk filed against OpenAI and MS will enter the courtroom phase starting with jury selection on April 27 (local time). The central allegation is that OpenAI broke its founding promise of developing nonprofit artificial intelligence (AI) and pursued private gain, with MS being deeply involved in the process.

Musk claims that OpenAI co-founders, including Sam Altman, deceived him by promising to create open-source AI for the benefit of humanity, thereby leveraging his early investments and reputation. He also argues that the partnership between OpenAI and MS has effectively formed a subsidiary relationship, undermining fair competition in the market. Based on these grounds, the damages he is claiming amount to as much as 134 billion dollars (approximately 198 trillion won). This figure results from calculating the value of his investment as a share of OpenAI's current valuation and adding punitive damages.

Musk was one of the eight co-founders when OpenAI was established in December 2015. At that time, he reportedly played a key role in its early operations by donating over 44 million dollars to OpenAI. However, this relationship did not last long. Musk resigned from the board, citing a potential conflict of interest between Tesla's autonomous driving AI development and OpenAI's direction. In reality, it is said that Musk's proposal to directly run OpenAI was rejected, which led to the fallout.

OpenAI's rebuttal to this lawsuit aligns with the reasons for their split at the time. OpenAI claims that Musk's true aim is not the benefit of humanity, but rather to grow his own AI company, xAI. OpenAI described the lawsuit as "baseless harassment" and a "strategic attack intended to disrupt our business." In this context, OpenAI reportedly sent letters to the attorneys general of California and Delaware requesting an investigation into Musk's anti-competitive behavior.

OpenAI also released past emails from Musk, in which he wrote that "OpenAI needs to raise billions of dollars, and either merge with Tesla or give Musk full control." This has led to criticism that Musk's insistence on OpenAI remaining nonprofit is hypocritical.

MS, added as a co-defendant, emphasized that its collaboration with OpenAI is aimed at responsible and safe AI development, and rejected the argument that OpenAI is effectively a subsidiary. It also requested the lawsuit be dismissed. However, the court denied the dismissal, and a four-week trial is scheduled at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California.

OpenAI logo. Reuters·Yonhap News

MS and OpenAI Move to Diversify Risks... Each Company Going Its Own Way?

Nonetheless, foreign media report that this lawsuit is driving a wedge between OpenAI and MS. MS recently launched its own AI model series (MAI Series), and according to outlets such as CNBC, OpenAI internally shared a memo stating that the partnership with MS had limited its ability to respond to the enterprise market. In the cloud sector, OpenAI broke its exclusive relationship with MS's Azure and entered into a deal to use Amazon's AWS infrastructure. Under this agreement, Amazon will invest a total of 50 billion dollars (about 68 trillion won) in OpenAI.

This is interpreted as a move to prove that Musk's claim—that OpenAI operates as an MS subsidiary—is not true. If this claim is upheld in court, MS would also be held jointly responsible for violating OpenAI's nonprofit principles and could face antitrust investigations.

There is even speculation that the two companies are heading for a breakup. The New York Times (NYT) assessed that "the tech world's ultimate bromance has hit the wall of reality," analyzing that both companies are engaging in strategic dissolution (risk diversification) to pursue their own paths. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that "MS's stock price has recently fluctuated due to uncertainties over its dependence on OpenAI," adding that "investors are closely monitoring changes in the relationship between the two companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.