OpenAI’s lawyer said that Musk had used his investment to “bully” other OpenAI founders, and that he had wanted to merge the company with Tesla, which he also owns.
“The other founders refused to turn the keys of artificial intelligence over to one person,” Savitt continued, adding: “When they refused to let OpenAI be absorbed” Musk “took his marbles and went home.”
“Since he couldn’t control OpenAI, he left it. He left it, he thought, for dead.”
Speaking to Musk’s legal case, he added: “Musk never cared about whether OpenAI was a non-profit.”
OpenAI says Musk is motivated by jealousy and regret for walking away from the company. And as the race to artificial general intelligence (AGI) barrels full steam ahead, OpenAI accuses Musk of trying to derail one of his key rivals.
Musk’s own platform, xAI, which makes the chatbot Grok, and has lagged behind competitors. xAI debuted in 2023, one year after ChatGPT hit the market.
OpenAI has argued that Musk understood the decision to open a commercial arm, and that he left the company only after failing to become its CEO.
Altman is also expected to testify during the trial.