Hollywood's Big Shot Joins Musk's AI Battle

Elon Musk's $97. 4 billion offer to take over OpenAI's for-profit arm has sparked a heated debate. Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, has joined Musk's side, criticizing OpenAI's current leadership. Emanuel believes that the company's top executives have left due to concerns about safety and responsible development. He also thinks that the current leadership is prioritizing flashy projects over safety. Emanuel's involvement suggests that Musk might be aiming to promote AI tools in Hollywood. OpenAI has been trying to win over the industry with its new tool, Sora, which can create hyperrealistic videos from simple prompts. This could have big implications for post-production in movies and TV shows. At a recent AI summit in Paris, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, accused Musk of trying to undermine competition. Altman also expressed sympathy for Musk, saying, "I don't think he's a happy person. " Emanuel, however, believes that Musk is unhappy because Altman is trying to cheat the charity and its original mission. Musk's offer is for the for-profit arm of OpenAI, not the nonprofit. Emanuel clarified that there have been misunderstandings about this. He also pointed out that OpenAI's leadership is involved in both the for-profit and nonprofit sides, which could be a conflict of interest. Emanuel also mentioned that OpenAI made $1. 6 billion in revenue in 2023, but the charity only received $5 million. He thinks that this is a sign that the current leadership is not prioritizing the charity's mission. In January, a lawyer for Musk sent a letter to the attorneys general in California and Delaware, asking for an open bidding process for the sale of the nonprofit that oversees OpenAI. Musk's ties to OpenAI go back to 2015, when he co-founded the company with Altman. He left the board in 2018 due to a potential conflict of interest with Tesla. Last year, Musk reignited a legal battle against OpenAI over its for-profit pivot. He alleged fraud and breach of contract, saying he was swindled when he invested roughly $45 million into the AI venture. Musk believes that Altman illegally partnered with Microsoft to establish a web of illicit affiliates and plunder its nonprofit arm of assets and staff in violation of their deal.