OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI began closing arguments Thursday in the whose outcome could shape the future of artificial intelligence.
Musk, the world’s richest man, was a co-founder of OpenAI, which started as a nonprofit in 2015 and went on to create ChatGPT. After Musk invested $38 million in its first years, his lawsuit filed in 2024 accused and his top deputy of shifting into a moneymaking mode behind his back.
The trial鈥檚 outcome could sway the balance of power in AI 鈥� breakthrough technology that is increasingly feared as a threat to humanity鈥檚 survival. Scrutiny of Altman鈥檚 leadership comes at a crucial time for the company and its competitors, Musk鈥檚 own AI firm and Anthropic, formed by a group of seven ex-OpenAI leaders.
All three firms are moving toward planned initial public offerings that are expected to be among the largest ever. In addition to damages, Musk is seeking Altman鈥檚 ouster from OpenAI鈥檚 board. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI鈥檚 IPO plans.
Timing of lawsuit is key question
One of the jury鈥檚 tasks is to decide if Musk filed his lawsuit in time. Much of the testimony has centered on OpenAI鈥檚 early years after its 2015 founding, but there鈥檚 a relatively short timeline to allege the claims Musk is making of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.
The judge wrote in a court filing last month that 鈥渋f the jury finds that Musk failed to file his action within the statute of limitations, it is highly likely鈥� that she will 鈥渁ccept that finding and direct verdict to the defendants.鈥�
If the jury decides that the lawsuit was filed in time, they then have to decide if OpenAI had a 鈥渃haritable trust鈥� and that OpenAI and its executives broke that trust. Musk’s other claim means jurors must determine whether Altman, Greg Brockman 鈥� co-founder and president 鈥� and OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves at Musk’s expense.
For Microsoft, a co-defendant in the trial, the jury has to decide whether the company aided and abetted that breach.
Musk’s attorney, Steven Molo, told jurors Thursday morning that the Tesla CEO is 鈥渟orry he could not be here.鈥�
with President Donald Trump and other prominent tech executives.
Musk lawyer focuses on Altman’s credibility
Molo began making his case doubling down on claims of Altman’s untrustworthiness, pointing to testimony from five witnesses who called the OpenAI CEO a 鈥渓iar.鈥�
“I confronted Sam Altman with the fact that five witnesses in this trial, all people that he鈥檚 known for years and worked with, called him a liar under oath. Liar鈥檚 a very powerful word in a courtroom.鈥�
Those five people were Musk and another co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who was OpenAI鈥檚 chief scientist, as well as OpenAI鈥檚 former chief technology officer Mira Murati and two ex-board members, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley.
鈥淪am Altman鈥檚 credibility is directly at issue in this case. He鈥檚 the defendants’ main witness. The defendants absolutely need you to believe Sam Altman. If you cannot trust him, if you don鈥檛 believe him, they cannot win. It鈥檚 that simple,鈥� he said.
Because Musk, Altman and Brockman never signed an actual contract that could show they had a charitable trust that OpenAI then broke, Musk’s side has made the case that jurors should consider emails and other communication between them 鈥� along with everything from OpenAI’s website to press interviews 鈥� that constituted such a trust.
鈥淭he evidence proves Elon donated those funds for a specific charitable purpose,鈥� he said, adding that this purpose was to create a nonprofit for the development of safe AI that would be open-source when applicable.
A question of money
In a terse exchange while jurors were out of the room, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sharply criticized Musk鈥檚 attorney for suggesting to jurors in his closing arguments that Musk wasn鈥檛 seeking any money in the lawsuit.
While Musk, before the trial, abandoned a bid for damages for himself, he is still seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI鈥檚 charitable arm.
Musk is seeking 鈥渂illions of dollars of disgorgement,鈥� the judge said, ordering Molo to either retract his statement or 鈥渄rop your claim for billions of dollars.鈥� They later agreed that the judge would correct the statement to jurors.
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O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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