OpenAI accused of using legal tactics to silence nonprofits

OpenAI says it was founded with the goal of benefiting humanity. But several nonprofit organizations that say the artificial intelligence behemoth has strayed from its mission allege that it has recently used intimidation tactics to silence them.

At least seven nonprofits that have been critical of OpenAI have received subpoenas in recent months, which they say are overly broad and appear to be a form of legal intimidation. All of the subpoenas are part of a legal battle between OpenAI and tech titan Elon Musk, with OpenAI suggesting that the subpoenaed nonprofits are somehow connected to Musk.

[…] Judith Bell, SFF’s chief impact officer, said that SFF has criticized OpenAI because of her organization’s focus on philanthropy. “OpenAI, an organization whose assets have been estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, is effectively one of the largest nonprofit entities in history. Its assets were accumulated for the explicit, charitable purpose of benefiting humanity,” she said.