Elon Musk spars with OpenAI attorney over company’s evolution

Elon Musk on Thursday sparred with an attorney for OpenAI during his third day of testimony in the contentious trial over the company’s pivot from non-profit status to a for-profit venture valued at hundreds of billions of dollars.

The trial centres on the 2015 birth of the ChatGPT maker as a non-profit start-up primarily funded by Musk. It pits the world’s richest person against Sam Altman, a fellow OpenAI co-founder he accuses of betraying promises to keep the company as a non-profit dedicated to humanity’s benefit.

On the stand, Musk has taken issue with the cross-examination by opposing attorney William Savitt, accusing him of asking misleading questions designed to trick him and the jury. At one point on Thursday, Savitt asked Musk about earlier testimony where he said that as long as investor profits were capped, OpenAI wasn’t in violation of agreements to keep it a non-profit.

“It depends on how high the cap is,” Musk replied. Savitt then said that “wasn’t your complete answer yesterday, right?” In response, Musk said “few answers are going to be complete, especially if you cut me off all the time”. He added that if the cap is “super high”, then OpenAI is “really a for-profit at that point”.

Lawyers for OpenAI have rejected the allegations brought in Musk’s civil lawsuit, and said there were never promises that the company would remain a non-profit forever. The company has argued that Musk’s legal challenge is aimed at undercutting OpenAI’s rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

The trial in federal court in Oakland, California, is scheduled to continue through to late May. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers excused Musk from the witness stand on Thursday, but he may be called back later.

During the cross-examination, Savitt also asked Musk about his companies – Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and X – and whether they were all for-profit. Musk replied yes, and affirmed that he believes all of these companies are “socially beneficial”.

Savitt then asked why Musk hasn’t started a non-profit himself, eight years after he left OpenAI.

“I thought I had started a non-profit with OpenAI but they stole it,” Musk replied, adding that this is “the entire basis of this lawsuit”.

AP