OAKLAND, USA – Elon Musk’s lawyer emphasized the credibility of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Thursday, May 14, near the end of the trial to hold the creator of ChatGPT and its leaders accountable for allegedly turning the non-profit organization into a profit vehicle.
OpenAI’s lawyers defended themselves, claiming the world’s richest man waited too long to claim OpenAI breached its founding agreement to build safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity, and could not claim he was essential to its success.
“Mr. Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but not in AI,” said William Savitt, a lawyer at OpenAI. “To succeed in AI, as it turns out, all Mr. Musk can do is come to court.”
The allegations were made during closing arguments in federal court in Oakland, California.
Musk is suing OpenAI and Altman for breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
He accused them of tricking him out of $38 million as well as backtracking by attaching a profitable business to his former nonprofit and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other growth investors.
Musk is seeking about $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, which would be paid to the nonprofit OpenAI. He also wants Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman removed from their roles.
Musk’s lawyer is guilty of ‘arrogance’
In his closing argument, Musk’s attorney Steven Molo told jurors that five witnesses, including Musk, former OpenAI board members and former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, testified that Altman was a liar.
Molo also noted that during the interview on Tuesday, Altman did not answer yes when asked if he was completely honest and did not mislead people in the business.
“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly involved in this case,” Molo said. “If you don’t trust him, they can’t win.”
Molo accused OpenAI of misguidedly trying to enrich investors and insiders at the nonprofit’s expense, and failing to prioritize AI safety.
He also disputed Brockman’s goals for the business, citing Brockman’s statement that his OpenAI stock was worth nearly $30 billion.
“The arrogance, the insensitivity, the failure to account for common decency is abhorrent.”
Musk also accused Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and $10 billion in 2023, of aiding and abetting OpenAI’s bad behavior.
“Microsoft knew what OpenAI was doing every step of the way,” Molo said.
OpenAI says Musk wanted control, had ‘selective amnesia’
Sarah Eddy, another attorney for the OpenAI defendants, accused Musk and his legal team in his closing argument of using “sound bites and false accusations that make no sense.”
Eddy said that by 2017, everyone associated with OpenAI — including Musk, then still on its board — knew it needed more money to fulfill its mission than it could raise as a nonprofit.
“Mr. Musk wanted to turn OpenAI into a profitable company that he could control,” he said. “But other founders refused to hand over the keys to AGI (artificial general intelligence) to one person, let alone Elon Musk.”
He also said that if Musk really believed AI should serve humanity, he wouldn’t have pushed OpenAI into his electric car company Tesla or made his rival xAI a profitable company.
Musk had a three-year statute of limitations to sue, and OpenAI’s lawyers said his August 2024 lawsuit was too late because he knew years earlier about OpenAI’s growth plans.
Eddy expressed disbelief that Musk claimed he hadn’t read a four-page term paper in 2018 discussing OpenAI’s plan to seek outside investment.
“One of the greatest businessmen in the history of the world” would not “put his head in the sand,” Eddy said. Savitt accused Musk of having “selective amnesia.”
Microsoft’s lawyer Russell Cohen said in his final statement that Microsoft was not involved in the key events of the case, and was a “responsible partner at every step.”
Altman and Brockman were in court for closing arguments. Musk is accompanying US President Donald Trump in China.
Public concern about AI
The case comes amid public concern over AI as it permeates society.
People use AI for many purposes such as facial recognition, financial advice, journalism, medical diagnosis, and artificial intelligence.
Many people express a distrust of technology and worry that it may take people out of their jobs.
The nine-person jury is expected to deliberate on Monday.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and attorneys in the case will return to court later that day to discuss how OpenAI should be reformed and what damages should be awarded if Musk wins. There will be no cure if Musk loses.
OpenAI competes with AI firms such as Anthropic and xAI, and is preparing for an initial public offering that could value the business at $1 trillion.
Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.
Musk’s xAI is now part of his space and rocket company SpaceX, which is also preparing for a possible IPO. – Rappler.com
