Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, took the witness stand between Tuesday and Wednesday this week in his high-profile trial against OpenAI and its billionaire CEO, Sam Altman, saying he was a “fool” to offer millions in funding to the company he accused of breaking its promise to function as a nonprofit.
Musk took the stand Tuesday and Wednesday. (Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)
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Musk, who cofounded the leading AI company with Altman in 2015 and later sued it for allegedly reneging on its nonprofit structure, said on the stand Wednesday he was a “fool” to offer $38 million in funding for the startup, saying he gave the company “essentially free funding to create what would become an $800 billion company.”
Musk opened his testimony on Wednesday by saying OpenAI is trying to “have its cake and eat it too” by launching ostensibly as a nonprofit—which gave the company some "moral high ground,” Musk said—and then switching to a for-profit model.
The Tesla CEO said he has “formed many for-profit tech companies, and could have done so” with OpenAI, which he said he “would have owned a huge portion of,” but said he “chose to create something that would be a charity.”
Shortly after cross-examination began Wednesday afternoon, Musk got in a testy exchange with OpenAI counsel William Savitt as he asked about decade-old emails purportedly showing Musk questioning whether a nonprofit structure was right for OpenAI, with the billionaire saying on the stand the lawyer’s questions “are not simple” and are “designed to trick me.”
As Savitt questioned Musk about his $38 million donation to OpenAI, Musk said the value of his contributions—including naming the company and contributing his “reputation”—were worth much more, saying, “Without me, OpenAI wouldn’t exist,” while raising his voice, CNBC reported.
Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2024, also naming co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman and Microsoft, an OpenAI investor, as defendants. The crux of Musk’s suit centers on his allegation OpenAI reneged on a promise to operate as a non-profit that developed technology for the benefit of humanity to become a for-profit corporation focused on maximizing profits. Musk, in his first day on the stand Tuesday, said his lawsuit is “actually very simple,” saying “it’s not OK to steal a charity.” The Tesla billionaire has demanded stiff penalties, asking for $150 billion in damages—which he has asked to be paid to OpenAI’s charitable arm—as well as the removal of Altman and Brockman from leadership roles and the return of OpenAI to a nonprofit structure. A judge dismissed Musk’s fraud claims against Altman and OpenAI last week, but allowed his accusations of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment to proceed to trial.
OpenAI’s lawyers have accused Musk—who is the CEO of his own AI company, xAI—of being “motivated by jealousy.” Savitt said in his opening statement on Tuesday that OpenAI “had the nerve to go on and succeed without” Musk, and “Mr. Musk did not like that.” Savitt said Musk filed the lawsuit because he “didn’t get his way at OpenAI,” accusing him of actually wanting OpenAI to become a for-profit company and reneging on an alleged promise to offer $1 billion in funding for the company when it became clear he would not have “full control” over OpenAI.
Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $775 billion as of Wednesday afternoon. He owns about 12% of Tesla and 40% of SpaceX, both of which he cofounded, and he is the cofounder of artificial intelligence company xAI. Musk became the first person ever worth more than $800 billion earlier this year. Altman is worth an estimated $3.4 billion. He owns no equity in OpenAI and derives much of his wealth from investments in companies including Stripe and Reddit.
OpenAI Trial Starts With Two Very Different Tales of a Company’s Early Years (New York Times)
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