Elon Musk Accuses Microsoft of Controlling OpenAI, Satya Nadella Counters Musk’s Claims

Elon Musk asserted that he helped form OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, in a recent interview. Musk claims that in the company's early years, he made a sizeable investment of about $50 million.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and Twitter, has voiced his displeasure with recent advances in generative AI and has criticized OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, in particular. According to Musk, OpenAI has changed from being a non-profit organization to a for-profit business. Additionally, he asserts that Microsoft, which has made large investments in OpenAI, has greater influence over the business than its own management. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has disputed Musk's assertions, calling them "factually incorrect."

Musk's role in OpenAI's journey

Elon Musk claimed in a CNBC interview that his collaboration with OpenAI, the organisation behind ChatGPT, is what made it possible for it to exist. The AI research firm was first founded in 2015 as a non-profit entity. However, two executives later established OpenAI LP, a "capped-profit" organisation. Musk claims to have contributed significantly to the hiring process and made an investment of around $50 million in the company during its first year of operation. He also added that he recommended the moniker "OpenAI" for the company.

Musk's claim

"What exactly is the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft? I worry that Microsoft made it more in control. As a part of the Microsoft investment, they have rights to all of the software, all of the model weights, and everything," Musk said.

Nadella's counter

Following Musk's interview, Nadella told CNBC that these claims are "factually incorrect." The Microsoft CEO adds that he has "a lot of respect" for Musk, but the Tesla owner is wrong. Nadella adds, "OpenAI is very grounded in its mission of being controlled by a non-profit board. We have a non-controlling interest in it. We have a great commercial partnership in it."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella responded to Musk's worries by pointing out OpenAI's collaboration with a "capped profit" business and highlighting their shared goal of creating cutting-edge technology. He emphasized that Microsoft is the only for-profit business that is comfortable working so closely with a nonprofit.

Microsoft integrates ChatGPT into Bing, Ege, and Microsoft Office

It's interesting to note that Microsoft has already included the core technology of ChatGPT into a number of platforms, including Bing, Ege, and Microsoft Office. As part of their agreement, Microsoft has the right to use the ChatGPT-based GPT language model technology and might even repackage it for some customers. According to recent reports, Microsoft is developing a ChatGPT version geared towards businesses that target anonymity by using distinct servers. Enterprise customers would be able to purchase this version via a subscription model.

Pause the development of AI

Musk's worries about ChatGPT and related technologies are not brand new. In fact, he and Steve Wozniak, the other co-founder of Apple, wrote an open letter in March urging a short-term pause in the development of advanced AI.

It is significant to take note of the many viewpoints and ongoing arguments regarding the partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft as well as the potential effects of generative AI technology.