Musk kicks off explosive OpenAI trial by slamming Altman, company for abandoning non-profit mission: Not OK to steal a charity
Elon Musk took the stand as the high-profile trial over the future of OpenAI kicked off on Tuesday — claiming that CEO Sam Altman took control of a group founded as a “charity” and improperly morphed it into a money-minting corporate juggernaut.“They’re going to make this case seem complicated but it’s actually very simple,” Musk told a packed federal courtroom in Oakland, Calif.early Tuesday afternoon, looking relaxed in a black suit and tie.“It’s not ok to steal a charity — that’s my view,” said Musk.
“This case will become case law and become precedent to looting every charity in America.The entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed.”OpenAI’s lawyers objected, noting that Musk wasn’t an attorney, prompting US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to instruct jurors that Musk’s comments were his opinions and had “no legal value whatsoever.”Musk was the first witness called to the stand in the blockbuster case, testifying nearly two hours as he accused Altman and OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman of betraying OpenAI’s original, nonprofit mission to safely develop AI for the benefit of humanity.Earlier in the day, William Savitt, an attorney for defendants for OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman slammed Musk’s legal agenda as a hypocritical “tale of two Elons” — calling it an attempt to throttle OpenAI after Musk launched his rival startup xAI. Musk “will do anything he can to attack OpenAI,” Savitt said.
“He didn’t start coming up with these arguments until he saw that OpenAI could make a lot of money.”“What he cares about is Elon Musk being on top,” Savitt added.“Mr.
Musk had fallen behind.He launched xAI and then he sued.”Musk testified that he started OpenAI because he was concerned about big tech companies controlling AI — calling out Google specifically. “A company needed to be started as a counterweight to Google,” Musk said.
“Google ...