In the latest development of the ongoing dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI, the latter has responded to Musk’s lawsuit with a detailed rebuttal, shedding light on the intricacies of their disagreement.

The conflict revolves around the original mission of OpenAI as a nonprofit organization and its alleged deviation from that mission. In a blog post published on Tuesday, OpenAI announced its intention to dismiss “all of Elon’s claims” and provided its own account of the events leading up to the dispute.

The mission of OpenAI, as reiterated by the organization, is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity, encompassing the construction of safe and beneficial AGI and the distribution of its benefits. OpenAI highlighted the significant resources required for achieving this mission, stating that the realization of AGI would necessitate far more resources than initially anticipated.

Elon Musk, a key figure in the early stages of OpenAI, had suggested a substantial initial funding commitment of $1 billion to the organization. However, it is revealed that OpenAI has raised less than $45 million from Musk himself, with additional funding exceeding $90 million from other donors. This contrast in financial support sets the stage for the underlying tension between Musk and OpenAI.

The divergence in perspectives between Musk and OpenAI became apparent in discussions about transitioning the organization into a for-profit entity to acquire the necessary resources for AGI development.

“We spent a lot of time trying to envision a plausible path to AGI. In early 2017, we came to the realization that building AGI will require vast quantities of compute. We began calculating how much compute an AGI might plausibly require,” OpenAI said in the blog post. “We all understood we were going to need a lot more capital to succeed at our mission—billions of dollars per year, which was far more than any of us, especially Elon, thought we’d be able to raise as the non-profit.”

We and Elon recognized a for-profit entity would be necessary to acquire those resources, the company added.

Musk purportedly advocated for either merging OpenAI with Tesla or assuming full control of the organization. However, disagreements arose regarding the extent of Musk’s control over OpenAI, leading to an impasse in negotiations.

“As we discussed a for-profit structure in order to further the mission, Elon wanted us to merge with Tesla or he wanted full control,” including “majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO,” according to the post, which is authored by OpenAI co-founders Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Sam Altman, and Wojciech Zaremba. “We couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI.”

Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that the organization has become a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft, prioritizing profit-making over its original nonprofit mission. This accusation forms the basis of Musk’s claim of breach of contract, although no formal agreement between Musk and OpenAI has been publicly disclosed.

In response, OpenAI said the shift to a for-profit was a mutual agreement, which was not honored because they couldn’t reach a consensus on other issues.

“In late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity. Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding. Reid Hoffman bridged the gap to cover salaries and operations,” it said.

We couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI, the company added.

Musk was said to have sent an email to other members of the board in early February 2018, suggesting that OpenAI should “attach to Tesla as its cash cow”, commenting that it was “exactly right… Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google. Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small. It just isn’t zero”

OpenAI contends that Musk’s departure from the organization was amicable, with Musk expressing support for OpenAI’s pursuit of its mission independently.

“Elon soon chose to leave OpenAI, saying that our probability of success was 0, and that he planned to build an AGI competitor within Tesla. When he left in late February 2018, he told our team he was supportive of us finding our own path to raising billions of dollars,” it said.

In an earlier response to the lawsuit, Altman and OpenAI CSO Jason Kwon addressed staff in a memo quoted by the Wall Street Journal, refuting Musk’s claims and suggesting personal motivations behind the legal action. “We believe the claims in this suit may stem from Elon’s regrets about not being involved with the company today,” the memo stated.

Despite Musk’s departure, OpenAI has continued to make strides in advancing its mission, including the development of widely accessible AI tools that benefit various sectors, such as agriculture, healthcare, and language preservation.

“We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired—someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress towards OpenAI’s mission without him,” OpenAI noted in the blog post.

Poor Naira: “The official exchange rate of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar experienced a sharp decline, ending its three-day winning streak on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. According to data published by the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ), quoted by Nairametrics, the naira fell by 4.26% to N1602.43 per US dollar, compared to N1534.19/$1 recorded previously.”

I took two courses in FUTO which I did not really like (boring stuff for an EEE major). One was ENG 301 – Strength of Materials, and another was ENG 207 – Engineering Thermodynamics. In thermodynamics, the Prof (then Dr Onwuka), noted that an object will float in a fluid if its density is less than the fluid’s density. If the object’s density is greater than the fluid’s density, it will sink. If the object’s density is equal to the fluid’s density, it will remain suspended in the fluid. For the strength of material, they noted that in a floating engineering design, you must consider longitudinal forces from other forces like wind, to have a robust design.

The questions for Naira today are:

(1) Can Naira float on the fluid density which is Nigeria’s economy which remains finance-driven with no clear strategy on a production-driven playbook?

(2) Also, even if it can float on that economic density on a finance-first policy, can it surmount the longitudinal forces where it seems the young people are disconnected from any national vision?

Naira needs great engineering thermodynamics and material strength within the context of economics to advance. If you cannot, SUSPEND floating Naira.

Poor Naira: "The official exchange rate of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar experienced a sharp decline, ending its three-day winning streak on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. According to data published by the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ), quoted by Nairametrics,… pic.twitter.com/D7EtEboyCq

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) March 6, 2024

Naira Plummets as Binance Largely Quits the Nigerian Market

The official exchange rate of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar experienced a sharp decline, ending its three-day winning streak on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

According to data published by the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ), quoted by Nairametrics, the naira fell by 4.26% to N1602.43 per US dollar, compared to N1534.19/$1 recorded previously.

This decline coincides with the announcement from the cryptocurrency trading platform Binance that it will cease trading activities involving the Nigerian currency. The move by Binance is expected to have contributed to the downward pressure on the naira in the forex market.

According to data from the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), where forex is officially traded, the domestic currency depreciated by 4.26% at the end of trading, closing at N1,602.43 to a dollar. This represents a loss of N68.24 compared to the previous day’s closing rate of N1,534.19.

The intraday high was recorded at N1,652.40/$1, while the intraday low was N1,450/$1, indicating a spread of N202.40/$1. Forex turnover at the close of trading stood at $291.78 million, representing a 63.26% increase compared to the previous day. Forex turnover has been averaging over $200 million in the past week, indicating a pickup in trading activity in the official market.

On the parallel market, the naira depreciated against the dollar, trading at N1,630/$1, reflecting a 1.84% decline compared to the previous day’s rate of N1,600. Similarly, the Great British Pound (GBP) depreciated by 7.32% to close at £1/N2050, while the naira weakened against the Euro by 0.57%, trading at N1750/EUR1.

Despite several policy measures introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address the forex crisis, the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar remains above N1,600/$1, marking a 43% depreciation in 2024. This places the naira as one of the worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Other implications of Binance’s exit

The repercussions of Binance’s exit extend far beyond immediate exchange rate fluctuations. Firstly, business leaders point out that it underlines the regulatory ambiguities surrounding cryptocurrency trading in Nigeria.

They note that the absence of clear regulatory frameworks has fostered a fragmented landscape, with certain platforms encountering restrictions or outright bans. Binance’s departure denotes the hurdles confronting cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Nigeria and raises questions about the government’s stance on digital currencies.

Moreover, there is concern that the departure of Binance could impede Nigeria’s efforts towards financial inclusion. Cryptocurrency platforms have played a pivotal role in expanding access to financial services, particularly for marginalized communities. By providing a platform for trading digital assets, these platforms have empowered individuals to participate in global financial markets and explore alternative investment opportunities.

The departure of a major player like Binance is said to threaten to stall progress toward financial inclusion and limit avenues for economic empowerment.

Additionally, economists warn that Binance’s exit may signal a loss of investor confidence in Nigeria’s economic prospects. The cryptocurrency market is highly responsive to regulatory developments and market conditions, and Binance’s departure could be interpreted as a vote of no confidence in the country’s regulatory environment and economic stability. This could dissuade other investors, both domestic and international, from entering the Nigerian market, exacerbating the challenges faced by the economy, they said.

Despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilize the forex market and bolster the naira, challenges persist, underpinning the need for comprehensive reforms and a cohesive regulatory framework.

Looking ahead, stakeholders have been urged to address the underlying factors driving currency volatility and investor uncertainty to cultivate a more resilient and inclusive financial ecosystem. This necessitates not only addressing regulatory gaps but also fostering transparency, accountability, and investor confidence.

Experts say that only through concerted efforts can Nigeria navigate the challenges posed by external shocks and chart a course toward sustainable economic growth and prosperity.