The Elon Musk-Sam Altman tech rivalry has intensified as Musk took the stand on Tuesday in a high-stakes trial over the future of OpenAI, and filed his lawsuit against the ChatGPIT creator as a defense of charitable donations.
The world’s richest man is suing OpenAI, its co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman and its chairman Greg Brockman, saying 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.
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 automaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, also called OpenAI his brainchild.
Musk said, “I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all the initial funding.” “It was specifically for a charity that didn’t benefit any individual person. I could have started it for profit and I specifically decided not to do that.”
Before Musk’s testimony began, OpenAI and Altman attorney William 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 the lawsuit only after failing to do so. In 2023, he started his own AI business, xAI, which is now part of SpaceX.
“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, which invested $10 billion in January 2023.
“This was not a way for people to get rich,” Mollo said.
Musk is expected to resume his testimony on Wednesday.
Musk claims:
Musk is seeking $150 billion 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 nonprofit, opens new tab, remove Altman and Brockman as officers, and remove Altman 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.”
Musk has said he has provided about $38 million to OpenAI towards its core mission, and testified that he has leveraged his connections to provide computing capacity, personally contacting Nadella as well as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
OpenAI:
OpenAI formed its own profitable unit 13 months after Musk left the board.
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.”
OpenAI also faces increasing competition from rivals including Anthropic, and is spending billions on computational resources. Reuters has reported that a potential IPO could value the company at $1 trillion.
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.
Late last year, 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% stake, with a guarantee if OpenAI meets certain valuation targets.
