The questioning was a much-needed win for Musk, who has so far struggled to make a convincing case. Tuesday’s testimony included several heated exchanges in which the OpenAI CEO had to respond to allegations from his former colleagues that he was untrustworthy.
Highlighting this evidence is not only important for Musk to win the jury, but also for beating OpenAI in the court of public opinion. Days before the trial began, Musk texted Greg Brockman, the head of OpenAI, telling him that he and Altman would soon be “the most hated men in America.”
Musk’s lawsuit accuses Altman of stealing from the OpenAI charity, taking $38 million that Musk donated to the nonprofit and using it to create a for-profit business worth more than $850 billion.
However, there was little evidence on Tuesday to address the holes in Musk’s legal case. Altman and Sam Teller, Musk’s former chief of staff, testified Tuesday that they did not recall Musk attaching any special conditions at all to his donations to OpenAI. Additionally, it seems increasingly likely that Musk brought his case too late, years after his last donation to OpenAI and his suspicions that the organization had violated its charitable trust. By then, the statute of limitations had already expired.
Brockman and his wife, Anna, sat in the gallery alongside Joshua Achiam, chief futurist at OpenAI. While Altman and Brockman were present to watch Musk on the witness stand, Musk did not stay for Altman’s testimony. (Flight records indicate he was flying to the Washington, D.C., area on Tuesday to travel to China with President Donald Trump.)
Before answering questions from Musk’s lawyers, Altman had the opportunity to tell his side of the story, and answer kind questions from OpenAI’s lawyers. Altman, wearing a purple tie, painted himself as an entrepreneur and investor who has always been fascinated and interested in the power of artificial intelligence.
Altman testified that Musk has long been obsessed with controlling OpenAI. He recalls a “particularly troubling moment” when Musk suggested that control of OpenAI should pass to his children if Musk died. “We didn’t feel comfortable with that,” Altman said. Altman also noted that Musk’s attempt in 2018 to start an AI unit within Tesla – and he was offered the chance to run it – seemed like a “vague, lightweight threat” that Musk would effectively crush OpenAI with or without him.
Altman bombing
Musk’s lawyer, Stephen Mollo, wasted no time questioning him, asking Altman: “Are you completely trustworthy?” As his first question. Altman responded that he thought so, then immediately asked Mollo whether the jury should trust the testimony he had just given. Altman responded: “It’s up to them. I’m not going to tell the jury what to think.” Here’s the heated exchange that ensued, as best as WIRED was able to capture:
Molo: Do you always tell the truth?
Altman: I’m sure there was some time in my life where I didn’t do that.
Molo: Do you lie to advance your business interests?
Altman: no.
Molo: Have you misled the people you deal with?
