Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta sides with Elon Musk against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, says Tesla CEO “is qualified and….” – Times of India

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta is siding with Elon Musk in a legal battle against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The social media company has reportedly urged California’s attorney general to block OpenAI’s planned conversion to a for-profit company.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Meta wrote a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta saying that allowing OpenAI to become a for-profit entity would set a dangerous precedent, enabling startups to exploit the benefits of non-profit status before transitioning to profit-making ventures.
“OpenAI’s conduct could have seismic implications for Silicon Valley,” Meta wrote in the letter.
“If OpenAI’s new business model is valid, non-profit investors would get the same for-profit upside as those who invest the conventional way in for-profit companies while also benefiting from tax write-offs bestowed by the government,” it added, as per the report.

Meta says Musk is qualified to represent Californians’ interests

In the letter, Meta added that said it supports the effort by Musk and Shivon Zilis, a business and personal associate, to represent the interests of the public in deciding whether OpenAI will be allowed to become a for-profit company.
“Although we ask your office to take direct action, we believe that Mr. Musk and Ms. Zilis are qualified and well-positioned to represent the interests of Californians in this matter,” Meta reportedly wrote in the letter.
This move aligns Meta with Elon Musk, who has been engaged in a public feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the company’s direction. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a non-profit, has accused the company of betraying its original mission by creating a for-profit arm and colluding with Microsoft to dominate the AI landscape.
Meta, a major competitor in the AI space, has invested billions in developing its own AI technologies.
Meanwhile, OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor defended the planned transition, stating that a non-profit arm will remain and retain full ownership in the for-profit entity, allowing it to further its mission of ensuring AI benefits humanity.