X feud: Vinod Khosla and Elon Musk spar over OpenAI lawsuit

Khosla accuses Musk of exhibiting “sour grapes” behavior by suing OpenAI

A feud between Indian American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has unfolded publicly, shedding light on internal rifts within the tech community over the direction of OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research organization.

The dispute began when, in a post on Musk’s platform X, Khosla accused the Tesla CEO of exhibiting “sour grapes” behavior by suing OpenAI for allegedly not getting in early enough and failing to stay committed to the organization’s goals. Khosla implied that Musk’s current actions contrast with his past approach, suggesting that Musk of old would have worked collaboratively towards achieving shared objectives.

With @elonmusk , feels like a bit of sour grapes in suing @OpenAI , not getting in early enough, not staying committed and now a rival effort. Like they say if you can't innovate, litigate and that's what we have here. Elon of old would would be building with us to hit the same…

— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) March 2, 2024

Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, on March 1, alleging a departure from the startup’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the betterment of humanity, rather than profit. The lawsuit, lodged on Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco, marks the culmination of Musk’s ongoing disagreement with the company he helped establish. OpenAI has emerged as a prominent figure in generative AI, bolstered by substantial funding from Microsoft. Musk has founded his own AI startup, xAI, which was unveiled last July.

In response to Khosla’s post, Musk dismissed the Indian American venture capitalist, stating that he “doesn’t know what he is talking about here.”

Vinod doesn’t know what he is talking about here

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2024

However, Khosla persisted, asserting that Musk had initially engaged with OpenAI but withdrew support when faced with challenges, emphasizing the necessity of substantial funding for real progress.

Attempting to clarify his earlier statement, Khosla admitted to a “supply chain error on wording,” acknowledging that Musk did indeed participate in OpenAI early on but withdrew prematurely when significant resources were required to advance the organization’s mission effectively.

Supply chain error on wording. @elonmusk got in early and bailed early when it seems the going got tough and keeping the mission required real scale money to be able to have any benefit to society. https://t.co/dhdS6KtNOP

— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) March 2, 2024

Khosla further defended OpenAI, expressing support for CEO Sam Altman and the company’s endeavors, despite the ongoing legal disputes. He commended the team for their dedication to advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI) technology and delivering innovative products despite the distractions posed by lawsuits.

We have known @sama since the early days of @OpenAI and fully support him and the company. These lawsuits are a massive distraction from the goals of getting to AGI and its benefits. Yet, even with all these hurdles, especially given this week, Sam, Greg and team have pushed…

— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) March 2, 2024

Amidst the back-and-forth exchanges, Khosla emphasized that OpenAI received their first venture capital investment and affirmed that they never felt misled by Altman or the company.

For all the baseless accusations being made about @OpenAI, we were the first venture check in and were never felt misled by Sam or the company

— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) March 2, 2024

The public spat underscores the complexities and challenges facing organizations like OpenAI, which strive to advance groundbreaking AI technologies while navigating legal and financial hurdles. As the feud continues to unfold on social media, it raises questions about the future trajectory of OpenAI and the broader AI research landscape.