Elon Musk has taken the stand in a high-stakes trial over the future of OpenAI, and filed his lawsuit against the ChatGPTS creator as a defense of the charitable donation.
The world’s richest man is suing OpenAI, its co-founder and CEO, Sam Altman, and its chairman, Greg Brockman, saying Tuesday they defrauded him and the public by abandoning OpenAI’s mission to be a benevolent steward of AI for humanity and turning the nonprofit into a profit-seeking juggernaut.
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Musk testified on the first day of the trial, “If we made it OK to rob a charity, the entire foundation of charitable giving in America would be destroyed.” “That’s my concern.”
Musk, who founded carmaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, also said he is committed to serving the public by working 80 to 100 hours a week and generally not taking vacations. “I love working and solving problems that make people’s lives better,” he said.
Before Musk’s testimony began, OpenAI and Altman attorney Bill Savitt told jurors during his opening statement that it was Musk who saw the dollar signs as he helped finance OpenAI’s early development and led it to become a profitable business, which he could eventually lead as CEO.
Savitt said Musk wanted “the keys to the kingdom” and filed suit only after failing, and then starting his own AI business, XAI, now part of SpaceX, in 2023.
“All he cares about is keeping Elon Musk at the top,” Savitt said in his opening statement. “We’re here because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way.”
OpenAI’s lawyers also cited OpenAI’s creation of a for-profit entity in March 2019 as important for purchasing computing power and paying top scientists to remain competitive with Google’s DeepMind AI lab.
Musk’s attorney, Steven Molloy, told jurors in his opening statement that it was the OpenAI defendants who were greedy for money, as OpenAI had begun attracting investors, including Microsoft.
“This was not a way for people to get rich,” Mollo said.
Musk is seeking $150bn in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of its biggest investors, with the proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm.
He also wants OpenAI to revert to a non-profit, remove Altman and Brockman as executives, and remove Altman from its board. Musk’s claims include breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
Before jurors were seated, United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers warned Musk after OpenAI lawyers complained about his posts on X on Monday, in which he called Altman “Scam Altman” and accused him of stealing from a charity.
Rogers said he was not ready to issue a restraining order, but he urged Musk to “try to control your tendency to use social media to do things outside the courtroom… perhaps you have never done this before.”
Musk agreed to reduce his social media activity, as did Altman. Both are expected to testify in the trial, as is Microsoft chief Satya Nadella.
The test may provide insight into some of the egos and personalities that shaped OpenAI as it grew from a nonprofit research lab in Brockman’s apartment into a company valued at 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 heighten Americans’ fears about AI technology more broadly.
Lawyers dispute importance of AI safety to Musk
OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Musk and Altman with the goal of developing AI to benefit humanity and fend off rivals like Google.
Musk testified that he “had extreme concerns about AI for a very long time”, and became more focused on it after meetings with former US President Barack Obama and Google did not address the risks of AI.
“I was very close friends with Larry Page at Google,” Musk testified, referring to the Google co-founder. “We talked for hours about AI security. At a certain point, it was clear to me that Larry Page was not caring enough about AI… We had to make a countermeasure against Google.”
Savitt said in his opening statement that AI security was not a priority for Musk and that Musk berated OpenAI employees for focusing on it. “He called them jackasses,” Savitt said.
Musk has said that he provided about $38 million to OpenAI towards its original mission, but OpenAI formed a profitable entity 13 months after he left the board.
Musk’s lawyer Mollo said that a major turning point for Musk came when Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI in January 2023. “It violated every commitment (the defendants) made not only to Elon, but to the world,” he said.
Microsoft lawyer Russell Cohen said in his opening statement that the company had done nothing wrong and that it “has been a responsible partner every step of the way.”
Musk’s xAI is far behind OpenAI in terms of usage. He turned that business into SpaceX, whose potential IPO this year could be the biggest ever.
Last fall, OpenAI changed its structure again to become a public benefit corporation, with stakes from nonprofits and other investors including Microsoft. The nonprofit holds a 26 percent stake, with guarantees if OpenAI meets certain valuation targets.
