OAKLAND, California, Elon Musk says OpenAI – Elon Musk took the stand on Tuesday at a high-stakes trial over the future of OpenAI, casting his lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker as a defense of charitable giving.
The world’s richest person is suing OpenAI, its co-founder and Chief Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman, saying they betrayed him and the public by abandoning OpenAI’s mission to be a benevolent steward of AI for humanity, and transforming the nonprofit into a profit-seeking juggernaut.
“If we make it OK to loot a charity, the entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed,” Musk testified on the first day of the trial. “That’s my concern.”
Musk, who founded automaker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and rocket company SpaceX, characterized OpenAI as his brainchild as well.
“I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all of the initial funding,” Musk said. “It was specifically meant to be for a charity that does not benefit any individual person. I could’ve started it as a for profit and I specifically chose not to.”
Before Musk began testifying, William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI and Altman, told jurors during his opening statement it was Musk who saw dollar signs as he helped finance OpenAI’s early growth and pushed it to become a for-profit business, one he might eventually lead as CEO, opens new tab.
Savitt said Musk wanted “the keys to the kingdom,” and sued only after he failed. In 2023, he started his own AI business, xAI, now part of SpaceX.
“What he cares about is Elon Musk being on top,” Savitt said in his opening statement. “We are here because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way.”
OpenAI’s lawyer also framed OpenAI’s March 2019 creation of a for-profit entity as critical to letting it buy computing power and pay top scientists to stay competitive with Google’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab DeepMind AI lab.
Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, told jurors in his opening statement it was the OpenAI defendants who were greedy for money, as OpenAI began drawing investors including Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, which invested $10 billion in January 2023.
“It wasn’t a vehicle for people to get rich,” Molo said.
Musk is expected to resume his testimony on Wednesday.
JUDGE ADMONISHES MUSK OVER SOCIAL MEDIA USE
Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of its largest investors, with proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm.
He also wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, opens new tab, with Altman and Brockman removed as officers and Altman removed from its board. Musk’s claims include breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
While Musk described OpenAI as a charity, the organization called itself a nonprofit artificial intelligence research company in a 2015 post, “Introducing OpenAI.”
Before jurors were seated, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers admonished Musk after OpenAI lawyers complained about his posts on X on Monday, in which he assailed Altman as “Scam Altman” and accused him of stealing a charity.
Rogers said she was loath to issue a gag order, but urged Musk to “try to control your propensity to use social media to make things work outside the courtroom … Perhaps you’ve never done that before.”
Musk agreed to minimize his social media activity, and Altman similarly agreed. Altman and Microsoft chief Satya Nadella are also expected to testify.
The trial offers a window into some of the egos and personalities that shaped OpenAI as it evolved from a nonprofit research lab in Brockman’s apartment to a company worth more than $850 billion.
It also risks complicating OpenAI’s plans for a potential initial public offering by casting doubt on its leadership, and could intensify Americans’ fears about AI technology more broadly.
