Elon Musk testifies he was a fool to invest with disingenuous OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in bombshell trial

OAKLAND, Calif.— Elon Musk said he was a “fool” to trust Sam Altman with the future of OpenAI in his second day of testimony in the bombshell trial over the future of the artificial intelligence giant.“I was a fool who provided them free funding to create a startup,” Musk told a packed federal courtroom in Oakland, Calif,.

on Wednesday.“I gave them $38 million of essentially free funding to create what would become an $800 billion company.”Musk — who had leveled accusations from the stand a day earlier that Altman had broken a promise to build OpenAI as a charitable organization — sparred with OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt during his cross examination on Wednesday.When he learned the news that OpenAI had raised $10 billion from Microsoft in 2023, Musk said it finally became clear to him that OpenAI had lost its way. He ripped Altman over what he called “disingenuous” reassurances that OpenAI would remain a nonprofit.“I texted Sam Altman, ‘What the hell is going on? This is a bait and switch,’” Musk said. Musk later went on to tell the courtoom that his view of OpenAI has gone through three different phases, with the first being “Enthusiastic support” for OpenAI and it’s mission, followed by “Growing skepticism” and finally “They’re looting a nonprofit.”“We are currently in phase 3,” Musk said.Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman were seen in the court room throughout Wednesday’s testimony, listening intently and occasionally passing notes.Savitt, meanwhile, attempted to pin down Musk about his early involvement with OpenAI — making a case that he supported plans to establish and grow OpenAI’s for-profit entity.

In response, Musk hit back at the attorney’s yes-or-no line of questioning. “The classic reason you can’t ask yes or no questions – Have you stopped beating your wife?” Musk said.US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over the trial, jumped in, saying, “No, we...