Musk v. Altman live updates: Closing arguments after testimony wraps up, deliberation ahead

Jury selection wrapped up Monday in the high-profile legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Nine jurors from across the greater Bay Area were selected. Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers emphasized that the case is not about technical expertise, but about disputed facts that the jury will be asked to decide.

"It's a good jury, and they're going to hear the facts, and we're going to get a verdict," William Savitt, at attorney for OpenAI said.

The trial centers on a dramatic split between two former partners. Musk and Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit with a shared mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Their relationship has since fractured, and Musk now accuses Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of abandoning a mission he pledged tens of millions of dollars to.

"We're looking forward to presenting their case to that jury," said William Savitt, an attorney representing Altman and Brockman. "We're confident in their position and looking forward to the facts being known."

Altman and Brockman were both in court for jury selection. Their legal team argues Musk is acting out of jealousy and regret after walking away from OpenAI, which is expected to go public later this year.

Musk did not attend Monday's proceedings but posted a series of attacks on his social platform X, referring to the defendants as "Scam Altman" and "Greg Stockman." He accused them of "stealing a charity" and claimed he founded OpenAI "for public good," not profit.

"Musk's legal team is arguing there was a baitandswitch: philanthropic intent turning into forprofit activity," said Andrew Reddie, a UC Berkeley professor who studies and works at the intersection of AI security and safety.

Many of Musk's original claims have already been dropped, including a fraud allegation dismissed Friday. Jurors will now consider whether Altman and Brockman engaged in breach of uncharitable trust or unjust enrichment. Musk is also suing Microsoft, OpenAI's primary partner, for aiding and abetting on his claim of uncharitable trust.

Musk is seeking Altman's and Brockman's removal from OpenAI leadership and wants the company returned to its original nonprofit structure.

"It matters because if OpenAI were to lose this case, it could significantly impact leadership," Reddie said. "Those leaders have a lot to say about how AI tools are being deployed."

Opening statements begin Tuesday. The judge expects all evidence to be presented by May 21, after which jurors will begin deliberations. The panel is an advisory jury, meaning the final decision will ultimately be made by the judge.

No cameras are allowed in the courtroom, but reporters could listen to an audio feed in a separate room throughout the selection process. Nearly every potential juror questioned said they were familiar with Musk.

One woman said the only thing she knew about him was that he was "the richest man in the world." Another man admitted he thinks Musk is "a jerk" and disagrees with his politics, but said he would try to remain fair. Attorneys also questioned a juror who said he likes Tesla cars and thinks SpaceX is "cool."

The exchanges underscored how deeply Musk and Altman, and the tech companies they lead, are woven into daily life, and how challenging it may be to seat a fully impartial jury in what is shaping up to be a historic trial.

Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, initially was seeking more than $100 billion in damages.

But any damages now are likely to be much smaller after a series of pre-trial rulings that went against Musk. Musk has since abandoned a bid for damages for himself and instead is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI's charitable arm. The money would be paid primarily by OpenAI's for-profit operations, and Microsoft, which became the company's biggest investor after Musk cut off his funding.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are poised to face off in a high-stakes trial revolving around the alleged betrayal, deceit and unbridled ambition that blurred the bickering billionaires' once-shared vision for the development of AI.

Technology tycoons Elon Musk and Sam Altman are poised to face off in a high-stakes trial revolving around the alleged betrayal, deceit and unbridled ambition that blurred the bickering billionaires' once-shared vision for the development of artificial intelligence.

The trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection, centers on the 2015 birth of ChatGPT maker OpenAI as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.

The trial's outcome could sway the balance of power in AI - breakthrough technology that is increasingly being feared as a potential job killer and an existential threat to humanity's survival.

Those perceived risks are among the reasons that Musk, the world's richest person, cites for filing an August 2024 lawsuit that will now be decided by a jury and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.

The civil lawsuit accuses Altman, OpenAI's CEO, and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company's founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. The lawsuit alleges they shifted into a moneymaking mode behind his back.

OpenAI has brushed off Musk's allegations as an unfounded case of sour grapes that's aimed at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk's own xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

Trial promises clashing testimony from two tech titans

Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, initially was seeking more than $100 billion in damages.

But any damages now are likely to be much smaller after a series of pre-trial rulings that went against Musk. Musk has since abandoned a bid for damages for himself and instead is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI's charitable arm. The money would be paid primarily by OpenAI's for-profit operations, and Microsoft, which became the company's biggest investor after Musk cut off his funding.

Musk's lawsuit also seeks Altman's ouster from OpenAI's board. Musk's decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter falling out between the former allies. Musk says he was responding to deceptive conduct that OpenAI's board picked up on when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023 before he got his job back days later.

But the trial also carries risks for Musk, who last month was held liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. Any damaging details about Musk and his business tactics could be particularly hurtful now because his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, plans to go public this summer in an initial public offering that could make him the world's first trillionaire.

However it turns out, the trial is expected to provide riveting theater, with contrasting testimony from two of technology's most influential and polarizing figures in the 54-year-old Musk and the 41-year-old Altman.

"Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible," Gonzalez Rogers said during a court hearing earlier this year while explaining why she believe the case merited a trial. The judge will make the final decision on the case, with the jury serving in an advisory role.

Evidence has included glimpses of the AI race's early days

Musk, whose estimated fortune stands at about $780 billion, has long been hailed as a visionary for his roles creating digital payment pioneer PayPal, electric automaker Tesla and rocket ship maker SpaceX. But he has also provoked backlashes with his social media commentary, unfulfilled promises about Tesla's self-driving technology and his cost-cutting role last year in President Donald Trump's administration.

Some of Musk's erratic behavior has been tied to allegations of taking hallucinogenic drugs, but Gonzalez Rogers ruled that he can't be asked during the trial about his suspected use of ketamine. But the judge is allowing Musk to be questioned about his attendance at the 2017 Burning Man festival in Nevada, a free-wheeling celebration known for widespread drug use. The judge is also allowing Musk to be questioned about his relationship with former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, the mother of several of his children.

Altman, currently sitting on a roughly $3 billion fortune, didn't emerge in the public consciousness until the late 2022 release of ChatGPT. The tech boom triggered by that conversational chatbot has led some to liken Altman to a 21st-century version of the nuclear bomb inventor, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Although Altman was initially hailed as trailblazer he is now facing blowback amid worries about AI's potential dangers. Earlier this month, the New Yorker magazine published a profile that painted him as an unscrupulous executive. Days later, a 20-year-old man worried about AI's effect on humanity was arrested on attempted murder charges after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Altman's San Francisco home.

The dueling testimonies of Altman and Musk are expected to open a window into some of the thinking that helped trigger the AI race, as well as the unraveling of their friendship. The kinship was forged in 2015 when they agreed to build AI in a more responsible and safer way than the profit-driven companies controlled by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to evidence submitted ahead of the trial.

Details of the bitter break between the two men were captured in a February 2023 email exchange that surfaced as part of the evidence leading up to the trial.

After letting Musk know "you're my hero," Altman tells him: "I am tremendously thankful for everything you've done to help -I don't think OpenAI would have happened without you - and it really (expletive) hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI."

Musk's response: "I hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake."