Elon Musk took the stand as the high-profile trial over the future of OpenAI kicked off on Tuesday — claiming that CEO Sam Altman took control of a group founded as a “charity” and improperly morphed it into a money-minting corporate juggernaut.
“They’re going to make this case seem complicated but it’s actually very simple,” Musk told a packed federal courtroom in Oakland, Calif. early Tuesday afternoon, looking relaxed in a black suit and tie.
“It’s not ok to steal a charity — that’s my view,” said Musk. “This case will become case law and become precedent to looting every charity in America. The entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed.”
OpenAI’s lawyers objected, noting that Musk wasn’t an attorney, prompting US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to instruct jurors that Musk’s comments were his opinions and had “no legal value whatsoever.”
Musk was the first witness called to the stand in the blockbuster case, testifying nearly two hours as he accused Altman and OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman of betraying OpenAI’s original, nonprofit mission to safely develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
Earlier in the day, William Savitt, an attorney for defendants for OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman slammed Musk’s legal agenda as a hypocritical “tale of two Elons” — calling it an attempt to throttle OpenAI after Musk launched his rival startup xAI.
Musk “will do anything he can to attack OpenAI,” Savitt said. “He didn’t start coming up with these arguments until he saw that OpenAI could make a lot of money.”
“What he cares about is Elon Musk being on top,” Savitt added. “Mr. Musk had fallen behind. He launched xAI and then he sued.”
Musk testified that he started OpenAI because he was concerned about big tech companies controlling AI — calling out Google specifically.
“A company needed to be started as a counterweight to Google,” Musk said. “Google didn’t seem to care about AI safety at the time.”
Musk recalled that while staying at Google co-founder Larry Page’s house, Page called Musk a “specie-ist,” accusing him of caring more about humans than robots. “I do care about humans more than AI,” Musk shot back, he told jurors. “What side are you on, Larry?”
During opening arguments, Musk’s lead attorney Steven Molo noted that, “Whether you like him or dislike him, you can’t disagree that he is a legend in the tech world.”
The trial got off to a bumpy start on Tuesday when lawyers for OpenAI griped that Musk had posted more than 20 times on X during jury selection on Monday, at one point writing, “Scam Altman and Greg Stockman stole a charity. Full stop.”
Musk, in response, said he was responding to OpenAI’s own public statements about the case.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers encouraged both sides to adopt a “clean slate” and “control your propensity to use social media to make things worse outside this courtroom.
“Whether you like him or dislike him, you can’t disagree that he is a legend in the tech world,” Molo said.
That was after Molo tried to get jurors disqualified, including two who called the billionaire “a piece of garbage” and “a world-class jerk” on questionnaires, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The reality is, people don’t like him,” Judge Gonzalez Rogers replied. “Many people don’t like him. But that doesn’t mean that Americans cannot, nevertheless, have integrity for the judicial process.”
Musk is seeking $180 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, pledging to donate any proceeds from a court victory to OpenAI’s charitable arm. He is also asking the court to restore OpenAI’s nonprofit status and remove Altman and Brockman from leadership roles.
Musk’s testimony covered early discussions inside OpenAI about the potential to create a small for-profit entity to help with fundraising.
A for-profit was fine “as long as the tail did not wag the dog,” Musk said. “I could have started it as a for profit and I specifically chose not to.”
Musk’s attorneys pointed to one email indicating that Musk and Brockman agreed in 2015 that OpenAI should be created as a nonprofit. Sam Altman responded saying that a nonprofit was the way to go. Less than a month later, Musk’s attorneys said OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit.
