OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceX Face New Lawsuit Seeking to Freeze AI Development
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceX are facing a second lawsuit over the pace of artificial intelligence development, with the latest case seeking to freeze AI capabilities at levels the companies had reached on November 12. The complaint, filed on Thursday, asks a court to prohibit the companies from developing or deploying AI systems more capable than those available on that date.
The new legal action comes roughly two months after paying subscribers of ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and Gemini sued several AI companies, alleging that they had reached an illegal agreement to slow the development of artificial intelligence. The two cases take opposing positions: one challenges an alleged industrywide slowdown, while the other seeks to prevent further advances beyond a specified date.
First Lawsuit Alleges Agreement to Slow AI Development
The earlier lawsuit was filed in federal court on September 18 on behalf of paying users of ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and Gemini nationwide. The subscribers claim the companies made an illegal deal to restrict the pace of AI development.
The complaint points to September 12, when Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei called for an industrywide slowdown in AI development. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis publicly agreed with the proposal.
The plaintiffs argue that the reported alignment among industry leaders amounted to an unlawful arrangement that affected the development of AI products used by paying subscribers. They are seeking damages equal to three times whatever losses subscribers incurred.
Second Case Seeks to Freeze AI Capabilities
The latest lawsuit takes a different approach by asking for restrictions on how far the companies can advance their AI systems. Filed on Thursday, the complaint seeks a ban on any AI more capable than the systems offered by each company on November 12.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceX are named in the latest legal action. The requested restriction would establish November 12 as the benchmark for the permitted capabilities of their AI systems, preventing development beyond that level if the court grants the requested relief.
The two lawsuits therefore present contrasting demands involving the same industry. The September 18 case alleges that companies improperly coordinated to slow AI progress, while the newer complaint seeks a court-ordered freeze on capabilities beyond the November 12 threshold.
Coin Bureau reported the two legal actions, including the allegations surrounding the September 12 statements by Amodei, Altman, Musk and Hassabis. The earlier plaintiffs are seeking three times their claimed subscriber losses, while the latest case asks the court to prohibit AI development beyond the capabilities each named company had reached on November 12.