Elon Musk claims Microsoft 'controls' OpenAI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that's 'not correct.'

• Satya Nadella is pushing back on Elon Musk's criticism of Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI.
• Musk claimed OpenAI, which he cofounded — but is no longer involved in — is "effectively controlled" by Microsoft.

Microsoft's CEO is pushing back on Elon Musk's criticism of the company's multibillion-dollar partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

In an interview with CNBC published Tuesday, Satya Nadella was asked about Musk's claim that Microsoft controls OpenAI.

"First of all, I have a lot of respect for Elon and all that he does," Nadella said. "I would just say that's factually not correct."

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"The last time I checked, we are the only for-profit company that is comfortable with a nonprofit company and a board controlling technology, and I would welcome others to do that as well," he added.

OpenAI in 2019 shed its nonprofit status and announced it was becoming "capped-profit" as a hybrid of a non- and for-profit.

Musk cofounded OpenAI alongside CEO Sam Altman and others in 2015, before leaving its board in 2018, citing potential conflicts of interest. He's since become a vocal critic of OpenAI.

In February, he said it had changed into a "maximum profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft," which was "not what I intended at all." Speaking with Tucker Carlson in April, Musk doubled down on his claim, saying, "In effect, Microsoft has a very strong say, if not directly controls OpenAI at this point."

Musk has also said he wants to build a ChatGPT rival that he calls "TruthGPT," which he describes as a "maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe."