Eliza Labs, creator of the open-source protocol elizaOS valued at 2.5 billion dollars, has recently sued X Corp. The American startup accuses Elon Musk’s platform of using its dominant position to appropriate its work, before abruptly ejecting it from the social network.
Behind this conflict lies a serious accusation: X allegedly launched its own artificial intelligence products based on technical information obtained from Eliza, then suspended the company’s account and that of its founder, Shaw Walters.
An AI Startup Against Musk’s Giant
The case is rooted in financial pressure. According to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the federal court of San Francisco, X allegedly tried to force Eliza to subscribe to an “Enterprise API” license at $50,000 per month, totaling $600,000 per year. Faced with the refusal to pay such an amount, the penalty was swift: the complete disappearance of their accounts.
For Eliza, it is not just a simple commercial dispute, but a “fraudulent and anti-competitive maneuver” aimed at siphoning off both sensitive technical data and money.
An Outrageous Bill
The timing is not coincidental. For several months, X has been making announcements about its AI agents integrated into the platform. In April, Eliza had just unveiled its own tool: a no-code launchpad allowing any user to create autonomous agents without writing a single line of code. An innovation that, according to investors, had the potential to reshape the landscape in the generative AI race.
The sudden exclusion of Eliza Labs raises a central question: does X truly want to become a platform open to competition, or is it seeking to lock down its ecosystem to maintain control over the new wave of “AI agents“?
An Impact Beyond AI
This case goes far beyond a simple conflict between two companies. It highlights the immense power of large platforms on which thousands of startups depend. A account suspension can mean, overnight, the loss of access to millions of users and a crucial market.
In the crypto and Web3 world, where the open-source and decentralized philosophy is at the heart of projects, this lawsuit could become a symbol. The way the justice system rules could influence developers’ trust in ecosystems controlled by private giants like X.
Next Episode: American Justice
The federal court will now have to determine whether the practices denounced by Eliza amount to an abuse of dominant position or a legitimate business strategy. A decision that could weigh heavily, not only on the future of Eliza Labs, but also on how Musk intends to shape the future of X in the global AI race.
A duel to watch closely, as behind this legal battle lies a simple yet crucial question: who will control the next generation of intelligent agents?
