I think this is the first time that the charter has been significantly highlighted in this case. My own personal view is the charter is one of the worst documents for OpenAI (therefore good for Musk), and having their own employees stating that it was emphasized a lot and treated as binding are very bad facts for OpenAI and associated defendants. The timeline for all this stuff isn’t 100% clear to me, so I can imagine there being issues with whether the charter was timed such that it is relevant for Musk’s own reliance, but the vibes of this for OpenAI are horrendous. Also raises an interesting possibility of whether the “merge-and-assist” part of the charter might be enforceable.
The docket seems to indicate that Eugene Volokh is representing the ex-OpenAI amici (in addition to Lawrence Lessig). To my understanding Volokh is a first amendment expert and has also done work on transparency in courts. The motion for leave to file also indicate that OpenAI isn’t necessarily on board with the brief being filed. I wonder if they are possibly going to argue their ex-employees shouldn’t be allowed to do what their doing (perhaps trying to enforce NDAs?), and Volokh is perhaps planning to weigh in on that issue?
I think this is the first time that the charter has been significantly highlighted in this case. My own personal view is the charter is one of the worst documents for OpenAI (therefore good for Musk), and having their own employees stating that it was emphasized a lot and treated as binding are very bad facts for OpenAI and associated defendants. The timeline for all this stuff isn’t 100% clear to me, so I can imagine there being issues with whether the charter was timed such that it is relevant for Musk’s own reliance, but the vibes of this for OpenAI are horrendous. Also raises an interesting possibility of whether the “merge-and-assist” part of the charter might be enforceable.
The docket seems to indicate that Eugene Volokh is representing the ex-OpenAI amici (in addition to Lawrence Lessig). To my understanding Volokh is a first amendment expert and has also done work on transparency in courts. The motion for leave to file also indicate that OpenAI isn’t necessarily on board with the brief being filed. I wonder if they are possibly going to argue their ex-employees shouldn’t be allowed to do what their doing (perhaps trying to enforce NDAs?), and Volokh is perhaps planning to weigh in on that issue?