Elon Musk spent more than seven hours testifying across three days in a California court this week, framing his lawsuit against OpenAI as a larger fight to protect the idea of charitable and responsible AI development. The trial, taking place in Oakland, focuses on the future direction of OpenAI and whether it has moved away from its original non-profit mission.
Courtroom tensions and sharp exchanges
The proceedings were tense at times. During cross-examination, Musk pushed back against questions from OpenAI’s lawyer, saying, “Few answers are going to be complete especially when you cut me off all the time.” The judge allowed tough questioning but also cautioned the lawyer for interrupting Musk repeatedly.
Even before the trial began, there were disagreements. Musk’s legal team wanted to discuss the risk of AI wiping out humanity. OpenAI opposed this, and the judge limited how much the topic could be explored. Still, Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, warned, “Extinction risk is a real problem. This is a real risk. We all could die.
‘For profit companies can be socially beneficial’
Musk was also questioned about his own AI venture, xAI. When asked why it isn’t structured as a non-profit like OpenAI originally was, he replied, “For profit companies can be socially beneficial.” He also defended using OpenAI’s models to train his own systems, saying, “It is standard practice to use other AIs to validate your AI.”
Musk calls Microsoft deal a ‘bait and switch‘
A key point in the case is OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft. Musk said he raised concerns with CEO Sam Altman in 2022 about the company’s $10 billion investment. He said it as a “bait and switch.” According to Musk, Altman responded, “I agree this feels bad. Musk added that Altman later offered him shares in OpenAI. “Frankly, it felt like a bribe,” he told the court.
‘I built OpenAI from the ground up’
Musk positioned himself as central to OpenAI’s early success. “I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all of the initial funding,” he said. He specifically highlighted recruiting top AI researcher Ilya Sutskever from Google, regardless of efforts by Google’s leadership to retain him.“After I recruited Ilya to OpenAI, Larry Page refused to speak to me ever again,” Musk testified.
Power, connections, and tech giants
Musk also emphasised his role in securing critical resources for OpenAI, especially computing power. He pointed to his relationships with tech leaders like Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jensen Huang of Nvidia. “The only one who could actually call Satya Nadella and have him pick up was me,” Musk said. “The only reason he’s in this thing is because of me. Those are his words.”
AI safety dispute with Google’s founders
Musk said concerns about artificial intelligence safety were a key reason behind OpenAI’s creation. He recalled conversations with Larry Page, claiming the Google co-founder was unconcerned about AI risks.
“I said, ‘What if AI wipes out all humans?’ He said that would be fine so long as artificial intelligence survives. I said that was insane, that’s just crazy. And then he called me a ‘speciesist’ because I care about humans more than AI.”
Musk added, “The reason OpenAI exists is because Larry Page called me a ‘speciesist.’ … What would be the opposite of Google? An open-source nonprofit.”