Elon Musk Takes the Stand in Landmark Trial That Could Reshape OpenAI
Musk testified in Oakland federal court on Tuesday, seeking $130 billion in damages and the ouster of Sam Altman, in a case that could decide whether OpenAI is forced back into a nonprofit.
Elon Musk took the witness stand on Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, opening one of the most consequential legal showdowns in the history of artificial intelligence. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is suing OpenAI and its leadership, arguing that the company he helped found in 2015 abandoned its founding nonprofit mission when it pivoted to a for-profit structure dominated by Microsoft and other commercial backers.
Musk is seeking roughly $130 billion in damages and is asking U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to force OpenAI back into a nonprofit, remove CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman from the board, and unwind aspects of the company's recent restructuring. "This case is simply about stealing a charity," Musk told jurors, warning that the outcome could ripple across nonprofits nationwide if OpenAI is allowed to keep its current structure.
On the stand, Musk emphasized his role in the company's earliest days. "I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all the initial funding," he said, telling the court he contributed at least $44 million in OpenAI's first years before splitting with the company in 2018 after a power struggle. He said he would never have written those checks had he understood that OpenAI would one day operate as a profit-seeking enterprise.
The trial got off to a tense start. Judge Rogers scolded Musk before the jury arrived for a string of social media posts about the case and threatened a gag order, telling him his commentary would "only make things worse." Musk, Altman, and Brockman all agreed to limit their public statements for the duration of the proceedings, an unusual concession from three of the most prolific posters in tech.
The stakes extend well beyond the courtroom. A ruling against OpenAI could force the most valuable private company in AI to unwind a multi-year corporate transformation, jeopardize tens of billions of dollars in commitments from Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank, and set a precedent that constrains how research nonprofits convert to commercial entities. Altman and Brockman are expected to take the stand later in the trial, which is scheduled to run for several weeks.
