If I have a non-profit legally chartered save puppies, you give me a million dollars, then I buy myself cars and houses, I would expect you have some standing.
Disputing the activities under a Delaware charter would seem to fall under the jurisdiction of the Delaware Chancery Court, not the California court Musk went to. Delaware is specifically known for it being easy for non-profits to easily tweak their charters over time:
For example, it can mean that a founder’s vision for a private foundation may be modified after his or her death or incapacity despite all intentions to the contrary. We have seen situations where, upon a founder’s death, the charitable purpose of a foundation was changed in ways that were technically legal, but not in keeping with its original intent and perhaps would not have been possible in a state with more restrictive governance and oversight, or given more foresight and awareness at the time of organization.
It is more complex than that because they cant change what they do on a whim. no-profits have charters and documents of incorporation, which are the rules they will operate by both now and moving forward.
Why do you think that money was spent a decade ago? Open AI wasn't even founded 10 years ago. Musk's funding was the lions share of all funding until the Microsoft deal in 2019
The reality was different. Prior to MSFT, Open AI ran a lean company operating within the the budget of Musk funding, focusing on science and talent. For example, in 2017, their annual compute spend was <$8 million compared to like 450 million for deep mind.
Big spend only came after MSFT, which invested $1B and then $10B, primarily in the form of credit for compute.
I think the missing info here is that Musk gave the non-profit the initial $100 million dollars, which they used to develop the technology purportedly for the benefit of the public, and then turned around and added a for-profit subsidiary where all the work is happening.
He has plenty of standing, but the "supposed to benefit all mankind" argument isn't it. If that were enough, everyone not holding stock in MSFT would have standing, and they don't.
