Elon vs Open Ai, PMF Guides & More
Elon vs Open Ai, PMF Guides & More
Elon is suing OpenAi and some guides for founders on PMF and Balance sheets.
Hey folks, welcome to Startup Scripts! My weekly newsletter focuses on early-stage start-ups and everything tech. The newsletter in published twice a week. Tuesdays with topics for early-stage founders inspired by my work at Antler. On Thursday we cover some tech and startup news, as well as some articles that caught my eye during the week. Today is Thursday so let’s see what’s on the news 📰
On the News 🗞️
Elon ended last week by suing the AI giant that he funded early in 2015 and is claiming that it is not fulfilling its mission to develop AI for the public benefit but instead turning it into a for-profit and a subsidiary of Microsoft. He asks the court to require OpenAI's research to be public. Now OpenAi’s Leadership responded with a Blog post on their Website showcasing Email messages between the parties that make you wonder about Elons true intentions behind the lawsuit. Here are the main points the two parties disagree on:
Mission and Profit Motivation:
OpenAI views the formation of a for-profit entity as a necessary step to secure the vast resources required for AGI development, intending to maintain its mission to benefit humanity.
Elon contends that OpenAI has strayed from its founding non-profit mission by becoming too profit-driven, particularly criticizing its close partnership with Microsoft and the licensing agreements related to GPT-4.
Partnership with Microsoft:
OpenAI says partnerships as Microsoft are essential for achieving their long-term objectives.
Elon alleges that the partnership with Microsoft essentially makes OpenAI a “de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft, which he implies could compromise the organization's independence and its commitment to benefiting humanity over profits.
Public Access to Research:
OpenAI emphasizes its efforts to make AI technology widely available for societal benefits (making GPT 3.5 free to users)
Elon’s lawsuit specifically requests the court to mandate OpenAI to make its research public, suggesting he perceives a lack of openness or accessibility in OpenAI's current approach, particularly concerning their most advanced AI models.
Approach to AI Safety and Ethics:
OpenAI underscores its commitment to building safe and beneficial AI.
Elon has consistently expressed concerns over the safety and ethical development of AI.
We don’t know what Elons true intentions are behind this lawsuit, but it sounds a bit strange to me. He co-founded the company, then left the board in 2018 because he thought they had no chance to compete with Google then built his own AI company xAi and now is suing OpenAi.
But yeah who does not love a bit of tech drama between some tech giants?
Things that caught my eye this week 👀
Average time to raise according to Carta
Analysis of over 31,000 fundraises on Carta since 2015 shows startups now take longer to reach each venture stage, with the time to seed round at 1.6 years and extending to 10.4 years for Series E+, largely due to increased early funding and recent market challenges
Marc Andreessen's PMF Guide - Comprehensive guide for startups on navigating the complexities of identifying, achieving, and sustaining product-market fit. Published in the Venture Curator
The Year to be Great by a16z’s David George - offers an outlook for growing companies for 2024 and a guide for founders to shift their focus from merely achieving operational efficiency to pursuing greatness in the year ahead
How to read and interpret the balance sheet of a software company from the OnlyCFO Newsletter
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