Musk Asks Court to Dismiss OpenAI’s Countersuit, Again

Musk’s lawyers argue his bid for OpenAI’s assets was relevant to the ongoing lawsuit.

Lawyers for Elon Musk asked the court overseeing his breach of charitable trust lawsuit against OpenAI to dismiss OpenAI’s countersuit against him in a court filing Wednesday evening for the second time.

OpenAI previously alleged that Musk engaged in unfair competition and “tortious interference” by submitting a $97.4 billion bid to buy the assets of the charity that owns OpenAI’s business, in the event that OpenAI proceeds with its planned corporate restructuring.

In the latest filing, Musk’s lawyers reiterated that his bid was protected by the First Amendment and the rights of parties in lawsuits to communicate about their cases. OpenAI has argued that the bid was not relevant to Musk’s claims in the lawsuit, so it does not qualify for those legal protections.

Musk’s lawyers now counter that the bid was relevant to the lawsuit in several ways, and argue that OpenAI acknowledged this itself by citing the bid as a reason the court should not block OpenAI’s restructuring in February. By saying the bid was relevant at the time, but now saying it is not, Musk’s lawyers wrote that “OpenAI tries to have its cake and eat it too—like a charity’s CEO chasing billions for himself while preaching philanthropy.”