Ex-OpenAI employees side with Elon Musk in battle against CEO Altman

In a surprising turn of events, a group of 12 former OpenAI employees has filed a legal brief in support of Elon Musk's lawsuit against the company.

The lawsuit aims to preserve OpenAI's non-profit status, which the Tesla CEO has argued is essential to the company's mission of developing artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of humanity.

For the unversed, Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, last year.

He alleged that OpenAI has strayed from its founding mission and prioritises corporate profit over humanitarian goals. Meanwhile, Altman has denied these allegations.

The former employees have argued that the non-profit's oversight is crucial to ensuring that the company's for-profit arm develops AI in a way that benefits humanity.

During their time at OpenAI, the executives emphasised the importance of this structure in achieving the company's mission.

The company claimed that the non-profit will retain a stake in OpenAI and will continue to benefit from the company's growth.

It should be noted that the dispute between Musk and OpenAI is set to go to trial in March 2026.

That said, OpenAI faces pressure from investors to complete its transition by the end of the year to secure a $40 billion fundraising round.