Musk v. Altman live updates: Sam Altman testifies in trial that could determine OpenAI's future

Sam Altman almost didn't even start OpenAI, now considered a leader in AI, because he thought Google was so far ahead in artificial intelligence that doing so would be hopeless.

That was one of the revelations the OpenAI CEO made on Tuesday when he took the stand in a trial that could determine the future of his company and potentially the AI industry.

Elon Musk, who cofounded and helped fund OpenAI, is suing the company and its leaders over allegations that OpenAI, Altman and president Greg Brockman breached their charitable trust when OpenAI shifted from its nonprofit mission to include a profit-oriented structure. Microsoft, an early investor in OpenAI, is named as a co-defendant.

Musk wants the judge to order OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit and for Altman and Brockman to lose their board positions. He's also asking that more than $130 billion to go back into OpenAI's nonprofit arm. A ruling in Musk's favor could scramble OpenAI's plans for an initial public offering later this year.

OpenAI has denied Musk's claims, saying Musk wanted a for-profit structure and only brought the case after he failed to gain control of OpenAI. OpenAI has claimed Musk, who started his own AI company after leaving OpenAI in 2018, is now attempting to harm a competitor.

Musk's attorneys have tried to paint Altman as deceptive and have brought up his brief ousting in 2023, when the company's board temporarily pushed him out as CEO over concerns about his leadership.

OpenAI board members and executives testified about their qualms with Altman, including his resistance to the board's oversight and alleged dishonesty with senior leadership, including former Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati.

OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever, who played a major role in Altman's removal, testified on Monday that he spent months gathering evidence showing what he said was Altman's pattern of deception and poor management. Sutskever later voted to have Altman return, saying he regretted the decision. Altman returned to his role just days after his removal and a new board was instated.

Altman's own words have also been used as evidence. "I remain enthusiastic about the non profit structure!" he wrote in a 2017 email to Musk during discussions about OpenAI's structure, including the development of a for-profit entity.

When reports surfaced in 2022 indicating Microsoft was considering further investment into OpenAI, already valued at $20 billion at the time, Musk texted Altman that he felt like the situation was "a bait and switch" after saying he "provided almost all the funding."

"I agree this feels bad," Altman responded, adding that OpenAI had offered Musk equity in its capped for-profit entity which Musk declined at the time.

Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI, its motivation for investing in the company and its access to OpenAI's technology and intellectual property were a major focus during CEO Satya Nadella's testimony on Monday.

Altman's testimony is expected to continue into Wednesday, with closing arguments beginning on Thursday before jury deliberations.

Testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever highlighted competing narratives Monday in the legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI, as jurors heard from key witnesses in federal court.

Testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever highlighted competing narratives Monday in the legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI, as jurors heard from key witnesses in federal court.

Musk is suing Microsoft for aiding and abetting in a breach of charitable trust, as part of a broader case centered on OpenAI's structure and mission. Nadella took the stand early Monday morning, having been seen pacing in the hallways before his testimony.

"From the OpenAI perspective, the testimony of Mr. Nadella was compelling, candid, straightforward and told the story, which is that Microsoft was a partner," said William Savitt, an attorney for OpenAI.

Nadella described Microsoft's early investment in OpenAI as a significant risk and framed the relationship as a partnership that helped the company grow. He testified that Musk never raised concerns directly with him, saying, "We have each other's phone numbers."

The Microsoft CEO also addressed the brief removal and reinstatement of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2023, a pivotal moment referenced frequently during the trial.

"After Sam Altman was fired and reinstated Nadella, Nadella was in close communication with Mr. Altman and with others at OpenAI, and it was instrumental in his reinstatement and in choosing a new board for the nonprofit," said Marc Toberoff, an attorney for Musk.

Nadella denied demanding Altman's reinstatement, instead characterizing Microsoft's role as an effort to stabilize OpenAI.

He testified that the company sought clarity from the board while also preparing contingency plans to hire Altman and other OpenAI staff if necessary.

Jurors also heard from Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder and former chief scientist, who offered insight into the company's early days and internal dynamics.

Sutskever testified that Musk pushed him outside his comfort zone but said there was never a promise that OpenAI would remain a nonprofit organization.

"What you heard him say is that there were never any promises made that could form the charitable trust that Mr. Musk says existed," Savitt said.

Sutskever also addressed his role in Altman's temporary ouster, describing it as an urgent move driven by concerns about leadership.

"I simply care," said Sutskever on the witness stand. "I didn't want it to be destroyed," as he explained his decision and concerns that Altman's behavior was not conducive to maintaining a safe environment for artificial intelligence development.

He testified that he had concerns about Altman's leadership for about a year before the decision and described the situation as a "Hail Mary."

Sutskever's testimony also underscored his long-standing belief in OpenAI's mission. He said he once declined a $6 million annual salary at Google to join OpenAI and estimated his current stake in the company at about $7 billion.

The case has drawn a sharp contrast between Musk's argument, summarized in court as "It's not OK to steal a charity," and Sutskever's one-liner today: "The mission of OpenAI is larger than the structure." With testimony from Nadella and Sutskever complete, jurors are now hearing from Bret Taylor, chairman of the board of directors, as well as chairman of the OpenAI Foundation, which is the non-profit governing the for-profit subsidiary.

Up next: Sam Altman, who is anticipated to take the stand as early as Tuesday.

The trial is progressing toward closing arguments, with jurors expected to begin deliberations by Thursday.

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella is reportedly set to testify Monday in the landmark battle over artificial intelligence in Oakland.

Monday marks the start of week three of testimony.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also expected to take the stand this week, as defense attorneys lay their case.

Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, accusing the company of abandoning a promise to remain a non-profit. The promise was allegedly tied to Musk's investment in the company.

Altman has accused Musk of trying to hobble the ChatGPT maker for the benefit of his own AI company.

At the heart of the trial pitting Elon Musk against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is a moment when they found common cause on an ever more pressing question: how to protect humanity from the risks of artificial intelligence.

It turned sour, and the jury is charged with settling the ensuing legal dispute between the two Silicon Valley titans.

But the unresolved questions about the dangers of AI have been looming over the federal courthouse in Oakland, California, since the trial began last week. The technology itself is not on trial - the judge has warned lawyers not to get "sidetracked" by questions about its dangers - but witness testimony has touched on concerns around workforce disruptions and the prospect raised by Musk that superhuman AI might one day kill us all.

Musk, the world's richest person, filed the case accusing his fellow OpenAI co-founder of betraying promises to keep the company as a nonprofit. Altman, in turn, accuses Musk of trying to hobble the ChatGPT maker for the benefit of his own AI company.

One witness, AI pioneer Stuart Russell, said that the "winner take all" power struggle over AI's future is itself threatening humanity.

Musk's lawyers brought Russell to the stand as an expert witness, at the rate of $5,000 an hour. The University of California, Berkeley computer scientist listed a host of AI dangers, from racial and gender discrimination to jobs displacement, misinformation and emotional attachments that take some AI chatbot users down a spiral of psychosis.

"Whichever company develops AGI first would have a very big advantage" and an increasingly big lead over everyone else, Russell told the court, using the initials for artificial general intelligence, a term for advanced AI technology that surpasses humans at many tasks.

A judge's warning hasn't kept out talk of AI's dangers

The trial centers on the 2015 birth of OpenAI as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk.

Both Musk and Altman, who has not yet testified in the trial, have said they wanted OpenAI to safely develop AGI for the benefit of humanity and not for any one person's gain or under any one person's control. And both camps allege it's the other guy who was trying to control it.

A jury of nine people selected from the San Francisco Bay Area will get to say which one of them is telling the truth.

Early on, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers warned lawyers, particularly Musk's, not to delve into broader AI concerns that go beyond Musk's claims that OpenAI violated its charitable mission.

"This is not a trial on the safety risks of artificial intelligence. This is not a trial on whether or not AI has damaged humanity," Gonzalez Rogers told lawyers before jurors arrived at the federal courthouse.

Still, Musk managed to skirt that guidance in his testimony last week. Asked to describe artificial general intelligence, Musk said it is when AI becomes "as smart as any human," and added that "we are getting close to that point," and AI will be smarter than any human as soon as next year.

Musk said he has "extreme concerns" about AI and has had them for a long time. Musk said he wanted a "counterpoint" to Google, which at the time had "all the money, all the computers and all the talent" for AI, with no counterbalance.

"I was concerned AI would be a double-edged sword," he said.

Musk and OpenAI each say they are working for humanity's benefit

During his testimony, Musk repeatedly said that he could have founded OpenAI as a for-profit company, just like the other companies he started or took over. "I deliberately chose this," he said, "for the public good."

The judge expressed some skepticism. In comments to lawyers last week before the jury came into the room, Gonzalez Rogers pointed out that Musk, "despite these risks, is creating a company that is in the exact same space," referring to the billionaire's xAI artificial intelligence company, which launched in 2023 and has since merged with Musk's rocket company SpaceX.

OpenAI's side also claims its goals are to benefit the public. OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman, a defendant in Musk's lawsuit along with Altman and their company, said he thought the technology OpenAI was developing was "transformative" - bigger than corporations, corporate structures and bigger than any one individual. It was, he said, "about humanity as a whole."

Brockman testified this week that his No. 1 goal was always the "mission" of OpenAI and it was Musk who sought unilateral control over the company.

Brockman recalled a meeting where at first Musk seemed open to the idea of Altman being OpenAI's CEO. In the end, however, "he said people needed to know he was in charge."

In addition to damages, Musk is seeking Altman's ouster from OpenAI's board. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI's plans for an initial public offering of its shares.