Al Arabiya<\/a>, Musk delivered a clear and repeated message to the jury: a charitable organization cannot be turned into a profit-driven enterprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cYou can\u2019t simply steal a nonprofit,\u201d he said, describing the core of his argument against the company he helped create.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed two years ago, accuses OpenAI and its leadership, including Altman and Greg Brockman, of abandoning the organization\u2019s founding mission as a nonprofit dedicated to the safe development of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, claims that his early contributions, estimated at around $38 million, were diverted toward commercial purposes without proper authorization.<\/p>\n
OpenAI has firmly rejected these allegations, describing them as baseless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company, now valued by private investors at more than $850 billion, argues that its evolution toward a hybrid model was necessary to sustain innovation and compete in a rapidly advancing field.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s testimony, which spanned three days, dominated the opening phase of the trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that he does not oppose the existence of a for-profit arm within OpenAI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, he argued that the balance has shifted, with commercial interests now controlling the organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot benefit from two conflicting systems at the same time,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n
The case also revisits OpenAI\u2019s origins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musk said the initiative was designed as a counterweight to Google, which he believed was not paying sufficient attention to AI safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He emphasized his central role in the organization\u2019s early days, stating that he proposed the idea, recruited key talent, and provided the initial funding.<\/p>\n
Tensions escalated during cross-examination, as Musk clashed with OpenAI\u2019s legal team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Questions focused on his involvement in the company\u2019s transition to a for-profit structure and his current role as founder of xAI, a direct competitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musk acknowledged that xAI has used techniques involving OpenAI systems to validate its own models, describing such practices as common in the industry.<\/p>\n
The broader context of the dispute reflects the explosive growth of OpenAI following the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 and its subsequent multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These developments accelerated the company\u2019s shift toward commercialization, raising questions about how to balance innovation, funding, and public interest.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s legal team is seeking damages of up to $134 billion and is calling for significant structural changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These include returning what they describe as \u201cunlawful gains\u201d to the nonprofit entity and removing Altman and Brockman from their leadership roles.<\/p>\n
The trial, overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, has been divided into two phases: one to determine liability and another to assess damages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first phase is expected to conclude by May 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the jury will play an advisory role, the final decision will rest with the judge.<\/p>\n
As proceedings continue, the case is being closely watched across the technology sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At stake is not only the future of OpenAI, but also a broader question: can organizations founded on public-interest missions maintain their principles in a market driven by competition and capital?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fez\u2013 The first week of the high-profile legal battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has set a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[140,157,370,12737],"class_list":{"0":"post-26006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-openai","8":"tag-elon-musk","9":"tag-openai","10":"tag-sam-altman","11":"tag-trial"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}