On witness stand, Elon Musk accuses Sam Altmans lawyer of trying to trick him

By Deepa Seetharaman and Max A. Cherney

OAKLAND, Calif. – Elon Musk on Wednesday accused Sam Altman’s lawyer of trying to deceive him during cross-examination at a high-stakes hearing on a lawsuit alleging Musk abandoned OpenAI’s mission to create artificial intelligence for the public good.

OpenAI lawyer William Savitt told Musk that Musk’s questions about the benefits he received by donating $38 million to OpenAI were simple, and Musk’s answers should be as well.

“Your questions are not simple. They are designed to deceive me,” Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said on the second day of testimony before a nine-person jury in federal court in Oakland, California.

Musk accused OpenAI, its co-founder and Chief Executive Altman, and Chairman Greg Brockman of winning their donations by promising to form a nonprofit to responsibly develop artificial intelligence before turning to creating a for-profit entity in 2019 to enrich themselves.

OpenAI argued that Musk was motivated by a desire to control the company. Savitt told jurors in his opening statement Monday that Musk helped fund OpenAI’s early growth and pushed it to become a for-profit business that he could eventually run as CEO.

OpenAI said in 2019 that it was creating a nonprofit to allow it to buy computing power and pay top scientists.

Sitting in the audience in the courtroom, Altman tilted his head at times and looked at the evidence displayed on the screen at other times.

MUSK SAID ALTMAN WAS NOT ‘HONEST’

The hearing reveals the depth of the rift between Musk and Altman. The two Silicon Valley icons have partnered in the quest to develop the fast-growing artificial intelligence technology that was once a mainstay of growth in the U.S. economy and has also raised concern about job losses.

The duo founded OpenAI in 2015 to create a benevolent guardian of technology and fend off rivals such as Alphabet’s Google. Musk left OpenAI in 2018. Microsoft, also a defendant, invested $10 billion in OpenAI in 2023.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors saw an email Musk sent to Altman and Brockman in 2017, calling him an “idiot” for funding them for what he believed was a nonprofit venture.

“I felt like they weren’t being honest with me,” Musk said during questioning by his lawyer Steven Molo. “What they really wanted to do was create a for-profit environment with as many shareholders as possible.”

Wearing a dark suit over a white shirt, Musk occasionally looked at the jury as he spoke.

Savitt asked Musk if he gets tax benefits from his donations. Musk responded to Savitt’s yes or no questions by asking one of them, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” He described the question as misleading by comparing it with the question.

That comment prompted U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to step in. “We won’t go there,” the judge said.

OPENAI SAYS MUSK WANTS TO SUPPORT XAI

Musk expressed concern that Microsoft’s investment left him “captured” by the tech giant’s OpenAI.

“On a $10 billion scale, there’s no way Microsoft would give that as a charitable donation,” Musk said when questioned by Molo.

Jurors saw Musk and Altman texting each other following news of a potential investment from Microsoft. Musk told Altman that the move felt like a “bait and switch.” Altman responded, “I agree that feels bad,” and then offered to let Musk buy shares in OpenAI.

“Frankly, this seemed like a bribe to me,” Musk said in his statement.

Musk stated that he left the OpenAI board of directors to focus on SpaceX and Tesla. He said he stopped funding OpenAI in 2020.

OpenAI lawyers and other defendants argued that Musk was trying to promote his own artificial intelligence company, SpaceX unit xAI, which lagged OpenAI in user adoption. They also said AI safety wasn’t a priority for Musk while he was at the company.

Musk acknowledged at the podium that xAI has a smaller market share than OpenAI.

MUSK SEEKS 150 BILLION DOLLARS OF DAMAGES

The trial comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential initial public offering that could be valued at $1 trillion, Reuters reported. The company also faces growing competition from rivals including Anthropic, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that OpenAI missed some internal performance targets Tuesday, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, with the entire reward going to OpenAI’s philanthropic arm. He also wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, have Altman and Brockman removed as officers, and have Altman removed from the board.

His claims include breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.

OpenAI is currently structured as a public benefit company in which nonprofit organizations and other investors, including Microsoft, own shares.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.