Twelve former employees of OpenAI have requested permission from a federal judge to contribute their perspectives in the ongoing lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against Sam Altman and OpenAI. The motion was submitted by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig on behalf of these ex-employees, who expressed in a detailed amicus brief that OpenAI has shifted away from its nonprofit origins and strayed from the mission that initially drew them to the organization.
Elon Musk’s legal action claims that OpenAI, along with its CEO, Sam Altman, and others, deviated from the nonprofit mission that Musk was instrumental in setting up when OpenAI was founded in 2015. In response, OpenAI has countersued Musk, alleging that he engaged in an “unlawful campaign of harassment” to hinder the organization’s operations for personal gain. OpenAI’s lawsuit accuses Musk of employing “bad-faith tactics” aimed at gaining control over AI technology.
The amicus brief, submitted to a federal court in California, contains strong language and serious allegations. Former OpenAI researcher Todor Markov, who currently works with Anthropic, stated in a three-page declaration that Sam Altman was unreliable and had deceived employees regarding his awareness and involvement in mandatory lifetime non-disparagement agreements for departing staff. Markov suggested that Altman might have similarly misled employees on critical matters, such as the authenticity of OpenAI’s dedication to its charter, which promises to use artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of everyone while preventing harmful use and power concentration. Furthermore, the charter prioritizes AGI safety research and aims to avoid a perilous competition for AGI that may lead to compromised safety standards.
Markov revealed that he perceived OpenAI’s charter as merely a tool to attract and maintain idealistic talent without truly checking OpenAI’s expansion and AGI pursuits. Public announcements by OpenAI about restructuring into a fully for-profit entity, which contradict the core tenets of its charter, reinforced Markov’s belief that the charter was used to manipulate both the workforce and the public.
Recently valued at $300 billion, OpenAI did not directly respond to the allegations concerning Altman. However, the company issued a statement affirming its commitment to its nonprofit mission and announced plans to transform its for-profit sector into a public benefit corporation, following the example of other AI labs like Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over the OpenAI/Musk case, will decide whether to accept the amicus brief. If accepted, the brief will become part of the court record and could influence the judge’s decisions on pivotal issues in the case.
In a direct message to Fortune, Markov expressed that he stands to lose significantly due to his involvement in the lawsuit, as a large portion of his savings is tied to OpenAI equity. He noted that any damage to OpenAI’s equity value could adversely affect his personal finances.
The other former OpenAI employees involved in the filing, whose backgrounds are mostly in AI safety, alignment research, and policy, include Steven Adler, Rosemary Campbell, Neil Chowdhury, Jacob H. Hilton, Daniel Kokotajlo, Gretchen M. Krueger, Richard M.C. Ngo, Girish Sastry, William R. Saunders, Carroll L. Wainwright II, and Jeffrey K. Wu.
This report was initially published on Fortune.com.
