‘Betrayed Mission’, Elon Musk battles OpenAI leaders in high-stakes court clash
Billionaire testifies in explosive trial over AI’s future; from charity to corporate, Musk takes stand against OpenAI’s transformation
Elon Musk spent more than seven hours testifying over three days in a high-stakes trial in Oakland, framing his lawsuit over the future of OpenAI as a fight to preserve the principles of charitable giving.
The billionaire, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is suing OpenAI leaders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging they abandoned the organization’s original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
Although OpenAI’s 2015 founding documents did not explicitly describe it as a charity, Musk repeatedly characterized it as such during his testimony. He argued that the organization was intended to operate as a nonprofit that would not serve private interests.
“It was meant to be a charity that benefits no individual,” Musk told the court, adding that he deliberately chose a nonprofit model instead of a for-profit structure, according to Reuters.
Musk also highlighted his role in establishing OpenAI, saying he contributed the concept, name, initial funding, and key talent recruitment. He pointed to his efforts in bringing top AI researcher Ilya Sutskever from Google, despite resistance from its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
According to Musk, OpenAI also depended heavily on his industry connections, including relationships with Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jensen Huang of Nvidia, particularly in securing computing power.
He further claimed that concerns over AI safety were central to OpenAI’s creation, citing a past conversation with Page in which the Google co-founder appeared unconcerned about the potential risks of artificial intelligence to humanity.
Musk accused OpenAI of shifting away from its founding vision, pointing to a reported $10 billion investment from Microsoft as evidence of what he described as a “bait and switch.” He told the court that an offer from Altman to purchase OpenAI shares felt like an attempt to influence him.
Despite his criticism, Musk acknowledged that using other AI systems — including OpenAI’s — to train his own venture, xAI, is standard industry practice. He also defended his decision to structure xAI as a for-profit entity, stating that such companies can still deliver societal benefits.
The courtroom exchanges grew tense during cross-examination by OpenAI’s legal team, with Musk accusing opposing counsel of interrupting his responses. The judge allowed firm questioning but cautioned against cutting him off mid-answer.
In pre-trial proceedings, Musk’s legal team pushed to include testimony on the existential risks of artificial intelligence, arguing that such threats are real and significant. However, the judge limited the scope of expert testimony, noting the apparent contradiction between Musk’s warnings and his active involvement in the AI industry.
