After a dramatic first day of opening statements and testimony from Elon Musk in his case against Sam Altman and OpenAI, the trial continues on Wednesday with a cross examination of the Tesla CEO. Musk began his second day of testimony by repeating the accusation that Altman “stole a charity” and would endanger humanity with AI multiple times. OpenAI’s defense attorneys will have the chance to press the world’s richest man on his allegations.
Peripheral to the legal showdown, the court was packed on Wednesday with a mix of media and eager young men who lined up before dawn to get a glimpse – and a picture – of Musk. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers at one point threatened that if observers did not stop taking photos and videos, a violation of the court’s rules, she would shut down an overflow room for watching the proceedings.
Musk is accusing his OpenAI co-founders Altman and Greg Brockman of breaking the founding agreement of the company to build AI to benefit humanity, instead shifting the non-profit to a for-profit structure and unjustly enriching themselves along the way. He is seeking the removal of Altman and Brockman, the undoing of the for-profit structure and $134bn in damages, which he wants redistributed to OpenAI’s non-profit arm.
OpenAI has rejected Musk’s claims as “motivated by jealousy”, stating that he was always aware of plans for the business and that he left OpenAI in 2018 only after a failed bid to take over. The company holds that what Musk describes as his $38m investment into the non-profit was actually a tax deductible donation, and does not entitle him to any say over the firm. OpenAI also emphasizes that it is still overseen by the original non-profit.
Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, called him to testify on Tuesday following opening statements from both sides. The billionaire began with a rehash of his career and rise to power, before getting into his version of how OpenAI was founded in 2015. Musk claimed that the company only existed because of an alarming conversation about artificial intelligence he had with Google co-founder Larry Page, which made him believe that he needed to build a counterpoint or Page would doom humanity.
With Musk on the stand, his lawyers have tried to paint him as a tech pioneer who is deeply invested in helping humanity. As Molo started his line of questioning on Wednesday, he showed Musk emails from OpenAI engineers praising him for his tech knowledge. He also showed him a document where Musk called OpenAI’s safety team “jackasses” and asked him what he meant.
Musk said the “jackass” statement was a joke. “I don’t yell at people basically,” Musk said. “You occasionally have to use strong language to get people to change their course.”
During his testimony, Musk said his concerns about OpenAI shifting from its non-profit status started around 2017. He claimed that an email exchange with Altman at the time showed Musk questioning if Altman had gone back on his initial promises and that Musk suspected they “actually wanted to create a for-profit where they had the majority of control”.
Musk called himself a “fool” for providing OpenAI funding to create a billion-dollar company. He testified that he cautiously continued funding OpenAI after this, paying its rent and sending $5m quarterly payments, because he received assurances from Altman that the company would remain a non-profit. Musk said he left OpenAI’s board because he was too busy with his other businesses, but that he had believed the company would remain a non-profit.
Musk’s departure from the board is a point of contention in the case. OpenAI says that Musk left following an attempt to take control of the company and proposing it merge with Tesla. OpenAI also argued Musk was aware of plans to create a for-profit and that its non-profit still technically oversees the business.
Musk testified that it wasn’t until late 2022, around the time that ChatGPT was released, that he realized he’d been hoodwinked. “I lost trust in Altman, and I was really concerned they were trying to steal a charity, and it turned out to be true,” he said, one of the many times Musk repeated the accusation of the theft of a non-profit.
The trial is being extremely closely watched in Silicon Valley as it pits two of the tech industry’s most powerful men against each other and promises to intensify their ongoing feud. Altman and Musk have openly sniped at each other on social media in the leadup to the trial, causing Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to request that both parties keep their posts to a minimum.
Investors and other AI companies are also keeping an eye on the trial because it threatens severe consequences for OpenAI. The company is seeking to go public on the US stock market later this year at around a $1tn valuation, and any changes to its leadership or corporate structure would threaten that IPO.
The trial is taking place in an Oakland, California, federal court where a nine person jury will decide on Musk’s claims. If OpenAI is found liable, however, Judge Gonzalez Rogers will be the one to decide on any remedies. The trial is expected to last around three weeks.