OpenAI spills tea on Musk as Meta seeks block on for-profit transformation
OpenAI has been on a “Shipmas” product launch spree, launching its highly-awaited Sora video generator and onboarding millions of Apple ecosystem members with the Siri-ChatGPT integration. The company has also expanded its subscription portfolio as it races toward a for-profit status, which is reportedly a hot topic of debate internally.
Elon Musk's Dispute with OpenAI
Not everyone is happy with the AI behemoth abandoning its nonprofit roots, including one of its founding fathers and now rival, Elon Musk. The xAI chief filed a lawsuit against OpenAI earlier this year and has also been consistently taking potshots at the company.
Now, the Microsoft-backed company has published a trove of emails and conversations between Musk and OpenAI executives with quite a stunning claim. It was Musk, all along, who was allegedly chasing a for-profit status and sought the CEO role, absolute control, a merger with Tesla, and a majority equity.
Meta's Opposition to OpenAI's Transformation
Meta has reportedly written a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, asking for a block on OpenAI’s pursuit of transforming into a nonprofit company. The letter, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, notes that OpenAI initially gathered funding as it promoted a charitable mission and now wants to amass profits.
Meta’s core argument is that OpenAI sets a dangerous precedent where a non-profit gets a fat sum in donations, builds a product or service, and then abandons its charitable roots to seek profits down the road.
OpenAI's Future and Challenges
OpenAI's unreleased Sora video generation model was leaked Tuesday by a group protesting the company's "art washing" actions, per a post from X user @legit_rumors. The group, calling themselves Sora PR Puppets, reportedly had gained early access to the Sora API.
There is a new way to access ChatGPT on Apple's iPhone and iPad. As reported by MacRumors, the latest version of the ChatGPT app makes it even easier to access the app's SearchGPT feature.
ChatGPT developer OpenAI may be one step closer to creating a third-party search tool that integrates the chatbot into other websites as primary feature. If the project comes to fruition, OpenAI could target Google as both a search engine and web browser.
A source told The Information the project is a search tool called NLWeb, Natural Language Web, and that it is currently in a prototype phase. OpenAI has showcased the prototype to several potential partners in travel, retail, real estate, and food industries, with Conde Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite, and Priceline being named by brand.
It would be interesting to see whether OpenAI faces any legal heat in its for-profit while working closely with Microsoft.
