‘Stole a charity’: Elon Musk accuses Sam Altman of betrayal in courtroom showdown

The trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman and OpenAI began in earnest on Tuesday with opening arguments, as lawyers for the two tech moguls seek to convince a California jury of their client’s version of the AI company’s history. The trial is set to feature testimony from both billionaires, as well as some of the most powerful executives in the tech industry.

Musk’s attorney argued that Altman, OpenAI and its president, Greg Brockman, broke a foundational agreement to better humanity when the non-profit pivoted towards a for-profit structure. Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 after co-founding it with Altman and Brockman three years earlier, also alleged that his co-founders unjustly enriched themselves as the company raised billions of dollars and grew into the AI behemoth it is today.

OpenAI’s attorneys rejected all of Musk’s claims. The company has asserted his case is “motivated by jealousy” and characterized him as an embittered co-founder seeking revenge after failing to take total control. OpenAI has also pointed out that Musk started his own rival AI company, xAI, alleging that “this lawsuit has always been a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor”.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, long lines snaked outside the Oakland federal courthouse as reporters, legal teams and court watchers waited to get inside. Altman and Brockman were present at the courthouse on Monday, while Musk was nowhere to be seen. The two tech leaders passed through security around 15 minutes apart on Tuesday morning.

Steven Molo, one of Musk’s lawyers, kicked off his opening statements and introduced his client to the jurors. Musk stood up and nodded to the jury. Molo referenced the jurors’ negative feelings about Musk that were brought up during jury selection and asked them to “put your feelings aside and decide this case on the law”.

“This case isn’t about Elon Musk, it’s about the defense,” Molo said. “It’s about Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.”

Molo quickly turned to the founding of OpenAI, saying its mission was “the benefit of mankind as a whole unconstrained by the need to generate a financial return … not for the benefit of Sam Altman, not for the benefit of Greg Brockman, not for the benefit of Microsoft”.

Then he made his central claim: that Altman and Brockman “stole a charity”.

Molo later turned his attention to Microsoft, saying that its $10bn investment in OpenAI in late 2022 is what eventually led to this lawsuit. “Microsoft provided substantial help, substantial assistance, to Altman and Brockman as they made an absolute mockery of OpenAI’s charitable mission,” Molo said.

William Savitt, the lead attorney representing Altman and Brockman, started his opening statement flipping Musk’s narrative about the founding of OpenAI on its head. “Mr Musk comes to this court saying promises were made to him … that’s not why we’re here,” Savitt said. “We’re here because Mr Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI.”

Musk believed OpenAI should be a for-profit company since its early days, Savitt claimed. He said evidence will show that Musk promised $1bn in investments in OpenAI and came nowhere near reaching that pledge because he didn’t get “full control” of the company.

“Musk never cared about whether Openai was a non-profit … what he cared about was Elon Musk being on top,” Savitt said. “Since he couldn’t control OpenAI, he left it, he left it for dead.”

Savitt alleged that when Altman and Brockman succeeded after they “stuck it out” and developed ChatGPT, Musk became furious. The attorney additionally claimed that Musk “didn’t really understand artificial intelligence very well”.

“Because he’s a competitor,” Savitt said. “Mr Musk will do anything to attack OpenAI.”

The trial is a culmination of a years-long feud between Musk and Altman that has become increasingly vicious. As the trial started jury selection on Monday, Musk posted a stream of insults against Altman on X, the social media platform Musk owns, including repeatedly calling him “Scam Altman”. Musk also used his power over the platform to boost a post to followers that featured the New Yorker magazine’s unflattering investigation of Altman from earlier this month.

The outcome of the case carries potentially enormous stakes for OpenAI, which is seeking to go public later this year at a valuation of about $1tn. Musk is seeking to undo its corporate restructuring and force the removal of Altman as CEO and Brockman as president. He is also seeking about $134bn in damages, which he wants redistributed to OpenAI’s non-profit, which still oversees the company.

On Monday, nine jurors were seated after a day-long selection process that included a questionnaire about their feelings towards AI and Musk. Many prospective jurors stated they had negative feelings about the Tesla CEO and thoughts about AI, while Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers assured the court that the case would not focus on technical details.

“This is just a case about promises and breaches of promises. It won’t get technical at all,” Gonzalez Rogers said.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks. Other tech industry bigwigs who may testify include the Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, who is also the mother of four of Musk’s children.