Sam Altman Testifies Against Elon Musk in OpenAI Trial

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman delivered his testimony on Tuesday in the prominent California federal jury trial pitting him against Elon Musk.

Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman serve as lead defendants in the lawsuit filed by Musk. The trio helped launch the organization that became OpenAI, where Musk reportedly contributed as much as $38 million during its startup phase.

Tensions eventually fractured the partnership, prompting Musk to exit. He went on to establish xAI, which directly competes with the ChatGPT developer.

Musk and Altman have exchanged pointed criticisms and leveled various accusations at one another in recent years. Those disputes stem mainly from Musk’s multiple lawsuits targeting OpenAI, most of which were later withdrawn or thrown out.

The Musk v. Altman case has featured statements from several notable figures in artificial intelligence, among them Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, and ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Zilis is the mother of Musk’s children, while Murati — who held the CEO post for a short time — now runs her own AI venture called Thinking Machines Lab.

Musk seeks remedies that reportedly include removing Altman and Brockman from their positions and reversing OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit structure.

OpenAI has called Sam Altman as a witness. Bret Taylor is back on the stand. Taylor says the reason OpenAI Foundation has been able to do more work is the recapitalization.