As first reported by CNBC, OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon sent an internal memo to employees defending the company and suggesting that Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI “may stem from Elon’s regrets about not being involved with the company today.”
Musk was one of the first funders and a co-founder of OpenAI back in 2015 and contributed over $40 million to the nonprofit. He left the nonprofit in 2018, apparently in a dispute over either its direction or control, or both. By one account, Musk wanted to take control over OpenAI and make it a part of Tesla. As CNBC reported, Kwon said in the memo “that Musk at one point indicated he needed ‘full initial control and majority equity’ and later suggested that OpenAI merge with Tesla.”