Elon Musk has returned to the witness stand in a high-stakes trial over a lawsuit he brought against OpenAI, alleging the company ditched its mission to be a responsible steward of AI for humanity in pursuit of profits.
The world's richest person's testimony resumed with more questioning by his personal lawyer, Steven Molo. Later, he is expected to be cross-examined by a lawyer for OpenAI, which has argued that Musk is motivated by a compulsion to control the company.
Yesterday, Musk sharply criticised the 2019 decision by the nonprofit OpenAI's co-founder and Chief Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman to create a for-profit entity.
"If we make it OK to loot a charity, the entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed," Musk told a nine-person jury in Oakland, California, federal court.
OpenAI has said it created a for-profit entity to allow it to buy computing power and pay top scientists.
The trial highlights the depth of the rupture between Musk and Altman. The two Silicon Valley icons once partnered in the quest to develop the fast-growing AI technology, a pillar of growth in the US economy that is also fueling anxiety about job losses.
The pair co-founded OpenAI in 2015 to create a benevolent steward of the technology and fend off rivals such as Alphabet Inc's Google. Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, left OpenAI in 2018 after investing $38m. Microsoft, also a defendant, invested $10 bn in OpenAI in 2023.
Lawyers for OpenAI and other defendants have argued that Musk is seeking to bolster his own AI company, SpaceX unit xAI, which lags OpenAI in user adoption. They have also said AI safety was not a priority for Musk when he was with the company and that he derided employees who focused on it as "jackasses."
Before jurors were seated yesterday, US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers admonished Musk after OpenAI lawyers complained about posts on X in which Musk assailed Altman as "Scam Altman." Musk, known for brash public commentary, agreed to minimise his social media activity, as did Altman.
The trial comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential initial public offering that could value it at $1 trillion, Reuters has reported. The company also faces growing competition from rivals including Anthropic, while a Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI had missed some internal performance targets weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.
Musk is seeking $150bn in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, with any award going to OpenAI's charitable arm. He also wants OpenAI to revert to a non-profit, with Altman and Brockman removed as officers and Altman removed from the board.
His claims include breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. OpenAI is currently structured as a public benefit corporation, in which the nonprofit and other investors including Microsoft hold stakes.
