• OpenAI published old emails from Elon Musk in a blog post on Friday.
• The AI ​​company released its version of a timeline of events amid a brewing legal battle with Musk.
• In a 2015 email, Musk said OpenAI’s nonprofit structure was not “optimal.”

OpenAI responded to co-founder Elon Musk on Friday with a new legal filing and a pointed blog post that included the billionaire’s old emails urging that the AI ​​startup be for-profit.

The emails and the filing are the latest blows in the legal battle between OpenAI and Musk. Last month, Musk asked a federal court to block OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit business structure. In the last year, Musk has sued OpenAI twice to prevent the startup from adopting a more traditional business structure.

In a lawsuit Friday afternoon, OpenAI accused Musk of trying to hinder the AI ​​startup while it perfected its competitor xAI.

The company also explained its version of a timeline of events in a post titled “Elon Musk wanted an OpenAI for profit,” saying that in 2017 the Tesla CEO “not only wanted, but actually created a for-profit structure.”

The emails contrast with Musk’s recent public stance against OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit company to a for-profit organization.

Musk did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

In an image of a November 2015 email, Musk wrote to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that the startup’s non-profit structure at the time “did not appear to be optimal,” the post said.

OpenAI wrote in the blog that both the company and Musk agreed that a for-profit direction was the next step for the startup in fall 2017. However, when Musk failed to gain majority ownership, OpenAI accused him of walking away, saying the company would “fail.”

Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018, but his lawyers said he would continue to work for the company through 2020.

“Because OpenAI is now the leading AI research lab and Elon leads a competing AI company, he is asking the court to prevent us from effectively pursuing our mission,” OpenAI wrote this week.

Musk announced xAI, its competitor to OpenAI, last year and has since released the Grok chatbot.

OpenAI also released Musk’s private emails in March after Musk sued OpenAI and Altman.

In a November 2015 email released earlier this year, Musk said the company should announce that it was starting with a $1 billion funding commitment and promised to cover “whatever others don’t provide.”

At the time, OpenAI also accused Musk of wanting to merge with Tesla and become its “cash cow.”

Musk’s latest filing is his fourth attempt in less than a year to “reformulate his claims,” ​​OpenAI said in the blog post.

“You cannot sue AGI,” the company wrote in the blog post. “We have great respect for Elon’s achievements and are grateful for his early contributions to OpenAI, but he should compete in the marketplace rather than in the courtroom.”