Elon Musk took the stand as the high-profile trial over the future of OpenAI kicked off on Tuesday — claiming that CEO Sam Altman took control of a group founded as a “charity” and improperly morphed it into a money-minting corporate juggernaut.
“They’re going to make this case seem complicated but it’s actually very simple,” Musk told a packed federal courtroom in Oakland, Calif. early Tuesday afternoon, looking relaxed in a black suit and tie.
“It’s not ok to steal a charity — that’s my view,” said Musk. “This case will become case law and become precedent to looting every charity in America. The entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed.”
OpenAI’s lawyers objected, noting that Musk wasn’t an attorney, prompting US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to instruct jurors that Musk’s comments were his opinions and had “no legal value whatsoever.”
Musk was the first witness called to the stand in the blockbuster case where the Tesla CEO has accused Altman and OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman of betraying OpenAI’s original mission as a nonprofit to safely develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
Prior to Musk’s testimony, William Savitt, an attorney for defendants for OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman slammed Musk’s legal agenda as a hypocritical “tale of two Elons.”
Savitt painted Musk’s lawsuit as little more than an opportunistic attempt to throttle OpenAI and only came about after Musk launched a competing AI company xAI.
Musk “will do anything he can to attack OpenAI,” Savitt said, adding that Musk didn’t like it when OpenAI became an overnight household name in late 2022. “He didn’t start coming up with these arguments until he saw that OpenAI could make a lot of money.”
“What he cares about is Elon Musk being on top – That’s why we’re here,” Savitt said. “Mr. Musk had fallen behind. He launched xAI and then he sued.”
Musk testified that he started OpenAI because he was concerned about malevolent big tech companies controlling AI, calling out Google specifically.
“A company needed to be started as a counterweight to Google,” Musk said. “Google didn’t seem to care about AI safety at the time.”
Musk recalled for the courtroom an anecdote where, while staying at Google co-founder Larry Page’s house, Page called Musk a “specie-ist,” accusing him of caring more about humans than robots. “I do care about humans more than AI,” Musk shot back, he told jurors. “What side are you on, Larry?”
Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, pledging to donate any proceeds from a court victory to OpenAI’s charitable arm. He is also asking the court to restore OpenAI’s nonprofit status and remove Altman and Brockman from leadership roles.
Musk’s testimony covered early discussions inside OpenAI about the potential to create a small for-profit entity to help with fundraising.
A for-profit was fine “as long as the tail did not wag the dog,” Musk said. “I could have started it as a for profit and I specifically chose not to.”
Musk’s attorneys pointed to one email indicating that Musk and Brockman agreed in 2015 that OpenAI should be created as a nonprofit. Sam Altman responded saying that a nonprofit was the way to go. Less than a month later, Musk’s attorneys said OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit.
