Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News , or add us as a preferred source , to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He\u2019s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he\u2019s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-11/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Jowi Morales Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
Pierce2623 Wait…so Elon’s lawsuit saying they purposely pushed him out to go for-profit isn’t complete BS? I honestly didn’t see that coming. I just figured he had lost interest and then got jealous when OpenAI got big. Reply
palladin9479 Pierce2623 said: Wait…so Elon’s lawsuit saying they purposely pushed him out to go for-profit isn’t complete BS? I honestly didn’t see that coming. I just figured he had lost interest and then got jealous when OpenAI got big. That journal is pretty damping for showing OpenAI was being deceptive towards it's investors. You can be a lot of things but that one is a clear federal crime. Smart to move it out of California State courts and to Federal courts, avoids most of the influence by California government. Reply
blppt Pierce2623 said: Wait…so Elon’s lawsuit saying they purposely pushed him out to go for-profit isn’t complete BS? I honestly didn’t see that coming. I just figured he had lost interest and then got jealous when OpenAI got big. I honestly don't understand how a man who just signed a monstrous contract for Grok would have a problem with OpenAI going for profit. Reply
Zaranthos blppt said: I honestly don't understand how a man who just signed a monstrous contract for Grok would have a problem with OpenAI going for profit. Probably more than one reason. Betrayal probably topping the list. Elon isn't motivated purely by money, he has plenty of that, he wants to colonize Mars, among other things. It's quite possible he lays awake at night worrying about perceived existential threats to humanity and how he might be one of the few people in a position to fix them. He clearly isn't motivated solely by profit or he wouldn't have done many of the things he's done. Reply
palladin9479 Zaranthos said: Probably more than one reason. Betrayal probably topping the list. Elon isn't motivated purely by money, he has plenty of that, he wants to colonize Mars, among other things. It's quite possible he lays awake at night worrying about perceived existential threats to humanity and how he might be one of the few people in a position to fix them. He clearly isn't motivated solely by profit or he wouldn't have done many of the things he's done. Most people do not understand that there are two companies named "OpenAI". First is the OpenAI Foundation, this is a non-profit organization that was founded by Elon and several other wealthy donors. As a nonprofit they have a charter that spells out their mission and this is very important because deviating from this charter revokes their nonprofit status making them subject to taxes and all sorts of IRS and SEC scrutiny. This was the original organization that designed such that "AI" software and technology would be open for the entire world, it was the same concept as the Linux Foundation and Apache Software Foundation. The donated funds from the founders would go towards research and creation of the technology that everyone can use. Sam Altman and some other founders didn't like being forced into this non-profit model by the original investors they were inviting to participate (Elon et all). Non-profits do not offer stock for the founders to sell during an IPO, nonprofits exist to provide for a public service, not to make investors wealthy. After manipulating the board to his liking, Sam was able to get them to vote to create a for-profit subsidiary OpenAI LLC, now called OpenAI Group. This second organization is for-profit and able to accept investment from outside entities, including Sam Altman himself. OpenAI Foundation only owns 26% of OpenAI Group, Microsoft owns 27% and the rest is by Sam and other OpenAI executives. They then transferred the technology that was developed by OpenAI Foundation to OpenAI Group and put it behind a license instead of being opensource like originally intended. That second part is what Elon is sueing about, claiming that those founders that sought his donations (this is a nonprofit remember, it's not an investment) were doing so using deception with the intent of betraying the conditions of those donations. The claim is that Sam and friends intended all along to use those non-profit donations to fund a for-profit tech startup by laundering them through a secondary company. Proving this in court requires proving intent, which is notoriously hard to prove, except they now have a diary where one of the founders express's said intent in their own words. An analogy people might understand is if Linux Torvalds created a for-profit subsidiary called "Linux Group" under the non-profit Linux Foundation. Then moved the Linux kernel technology to that for-profit, changed it's license and started charging everyone royalties to use it. Since The Linux Foundation is funded by donations, trying to reorganize it such that its a for-profit would really piss people off, and likely cause regulators to come crashing down on them. Reply
nelkazzu If these notes are accurate, it really shows how early the internal disagreements about OpenAI’s direction started. The tension between nonprofit ideals and the push for a for‑profit model has been there since day one. Curious to see how much of this will be confirmed as more documents come out Reply
bit_user Zaranthos said: It's quite possible he lays awake at night worrying about perceived existential threats to humanity and how he might be one of the few people in a position to fix them. LOL, no. Although he does have a god complex, of sorts. Reply
bit_user palladin9479 said: this is very important because deviating from this charter revokes their nonprofit status making them subject to taxes and all sorts of IRS and SEC scrutiny. Does SEC ever enter the picture for private companies? I thought their remit was only to regulate publicly-traded companies. Reply
blppt bit_user said: LOL, no. Although he does have a god complex, of sorts. Personally, I think its more likely his self-prescription dosing of Ketamine has probably fried his brain. Reply
ravewulf I don't blame him for wanting to be rid of Elon, but then there's the rest of it… Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/openai-cofounders-notes-seemingly-point-to-plan-with-altman-to-oust-musk-to-establish-for-profit-business-this-is-the-only-chance-we-have-to-get-out-from-elon-brockman-wrote#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- NVIDIA Rubin Platform, Open Models, Autonomous Driving: NVIDIA Presents Blueprint for the Future at CES
- Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 9 mobile CPU outperforms most desktop counterparts in new benchmark — Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus nearly matches flagship Core Ultra 9 2
- Erroneously assembled 1974 Altair 8800 computer gets fixed and enjoys first run in 2026 — Intel 8080 powered machine ran its first program 52 years later
- NVIDIA Rubin Platform, Open Models, Autonomous Driving: NVIDIA Presents Blueprint for the Future at CES
- At 30% off, this remarkable $14 USB-rechargeable flashlight is an indispensable PC building tool — Olight lights up the dark corners of any DIY project
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.