(Reuters) -OpenAI said it should be allowed to keep its countersuit against billionaire Elon Musk, saying the Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ) CEO’s motion to dismiss the ChatGPT maker’s claims has "no grounding in facts".
In a court filing late on Wednesday, OpenAI said its countersuit - which accuses Musk of engaging in fraudulent business practices under California law - should be included in the expedited trial, rather than put on hold.
OpenAI has argued that a $97.4 billion takeover bid for the company earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium was a "sham bid" aimed at drumming up media frenzy. OpenAI alleged the bid was leaked to the media before the proposal reached OpenAI’s board.
Last year, Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left before the firm became an AI juggernaut, sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over the company’s transition to a for-profit model. He accused OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit.
OpenAI in April countersued Musk, citing a pattern of harassment by Musk and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any "further unlawful and unfair action" against OpenAI. Musk had asked a federal judge to dismiss or delay OpenAI’s counterclaims until a later stage in the case.
While OpenAI earlier this month dialed back its plan to remove control by its non-profit arm, Musk’s lawyer said the billionaire CEO would still proceed with his lawsuit.