<\/p>\n
Elon Musk arrives at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on April 30, 2026, in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Fanjoy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Telsa CEO Elon Musk spent part of his final day testifying in an Oakland courtroom<\/a> Thursday hearing a federal judge warn him not to talk about \u201cextinction\u201d and his fears of artificial intelligence killing humanity.\u00a0<\/p>\n While taking the stand as part of a billion-dollar civil case against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, Musk often clung\u00a0to an apparent commitment to AI safety, at one point testifying that he met with then-President Barack Obama about the booming technology in 2015. Though Musk said Wednesday that he believes \u201csome futures are good and some are not good\u201d in reference to AI\u2019s increasing prevalence in society, he said Thursday that he\u2019s usually optimistic regarding the future of humanity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But repeating a similar sentiment from Wednesday, he said the \u201cworst-case situation\u201d would be that \u201cAI kills us all.\u201d His remark prompted Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou made your little statement, and that\u2019s OK, but you are instructed not to talk about extinction again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n During his three days in court, Musk accused the company\u2019s founders, including\u00a0Altman, of \u201cstealing a charity.\u201d Musk, who\u2019s also a founder, alleged that the OpenAI founders betrayed him by shifting it from nonprofit to for-profit, abandoning the \u201ccore mission\u201d to which he donated $38 million. He testified that part of the motivation behind founding\u00a0OpenAI was to create an AI lab focused on safety and to balance out Google\u2019s early AI efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make SFGATE a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Before Musk and the jury had even entered the courtroom Thursday, Gonzalez Rogers told attorneys that \u201ccatastrophe and extinction\u201d shouldn\u2019t be discussed, according to\u00a0reporters<\/a> in the courtroom<\/a>. (SFGATE reported from the overflow room of the courthouse.) The judge said although she believes there are many people who do not want to \u201cput the future of humanity in Mr. Musk\u2019s hands,\u201d the trial is not going to get into those topics, CNN\u2019s Hadas Gold reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a trial on whether or not AI has risks,\u201d Gonzalez Rogers said. \u201cThis is not a trial about whether or not AI has damaged humanity. That may be a trial in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Later in the day, the judge directly told Musk not to talk about \u201cextinction\u201d after his attorney, Steve Molo, questioned him about \u201cthe future.\u201d Molo asked Musk if Tesla is making an AI \u201cmilitary army of robots,\u201d<\/a> a topic that was also referenced Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk replied that Tesla does not create any weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we make a lot of robots, we\u2019ve got to make sure that they are safe and do not turn into a \u2018Terminator\u2019 situation,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n One of the biggest arguments from OpenAI\u2019s attorneys is that safety isn\u2019t Musk\u2019s biggest priority and that he only sued OpenAI in 2024 after creating his own AI company in 2023, xAI. During the fiery cross-examination on Tuesday, William Savitt, OpenAI\u2019s lead attorney, even asked if xAI creates a safety risk, which Musk answered affirmatively and said, \u201cAll AI companies suffer from that.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s testimony ended shortly after he accused Savitt of \u201cconflating timelines\u201d and asking him \u201cleading\u201d questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not how it works, Mr. Musk. Let\u2019s remind everyone in the courtroom that you\u2019re not a lawyer,\u201d Gonzalez Rogers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWell, technically, I did take Law 101,\u201d Musk said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not a lawyer,\u201d Gonzalez Rogers reaffirmed, with the exchange prompting laughs from the courtroom and overflow room.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a post on X<\/a> shortly before the trial, OpenAI called Musk\u2019s lawsuit \u201ca baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Altman and OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman are set to testify later in the trial. After his testimony, Musk was allowed to leave for the day, but the judge said he is still \u201cnot excused.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The trial comes just six months after\u00a0OpenAI floated the idea of allowing<\/a> it to go to public markets. SpaceX,<\/a> another one of Musk\u2019s companies, also announced plans to go public.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon Musk arrives at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on April 30, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. 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