OpenAI founder Sam Altman was expected to take the stand Tuesday in the blockbuster civil trial in California triggered by a lawsuit from the world’s richest man Elon Musk against the AI behemoth.<\/p>\n
Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, alleges that Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman misappropriated his $38 million donations when OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit and philanthropic mission to become the for-profit giant behind ChatGPT.<\/p>\n
Musk is calling for OpenAI to revert to nonprofit status — a move that would impact its position in the global artificial intelligence race against Anthropic, Google and China’s Deepseek.<\/p>\n
OpenAI counters that Musk, who is now also an AI player with xAI, is motivated by petty revenge, having failed to seize majority control.<\/p>\n
The courtroom standoff in Oakland, outside San Francisco, features some of the wealthiest people on the planet, representing tech companies at the leading edge of the AI revolution.<\/p>\n
On Monday it was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella who testified, saying he was “very proud” of his company’s profitable early investment in OpenAI.<\/p>\n
Nadella told the jury that Microsoft’s investment in the nonprofit arm, which now owns around a quarter of OpenAI Group PBC — the firm behind ChatGPT — helped to create “one of the largest, most well-funded nonprofits in the world.”<\/p>\n
An advisory jury is expected to reach a verdict on any actual wrongdoing by the week of May 18.<\/p>\n
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will then make the final ruling on both liability and remedies after hearing the jury’s opinion. She has indicated she will likely follow their advice.<\/p>\n
– Good faith bet? –<\/p>\n
Musk has alleged that internal Microsoft documents show the computer behemoth already had its eye on profit when it invested in the OpenAI start-up, rather than seeking to nurture a supposedly philanthropic AI service.<\/p>\n
Microsoft’s initial $13 billion investment ballooned to be worth $92 billion four years later.<\/p>\n
But Nadella said Microsoft — whose OpenAI stake is not estimated to be worth $135 billion — simply made a good faith bet.<\/p>\n
“It has worked out well because we took the risk,” said Nadella.<\/p>\n
“If the pie became larger, obviously the nonprofit would benefit as well with their mission — and that’s what in fact it’s proven,” he said.<\/p>\n
Musk’s lawyers suggested Microsoft was instrumental in OpenAI’s pivot toward being a commercial company, citing Nadella’s 2023 boast: “We have the people, we have the compute, we have the data, we have everything.”<\/p>\n
That year, when several members of OpenAI’s board ousted Altman, Nadella came to his support.<\/p>\n
After a five-day crisis, Altman was ultimately reinstated at OpenAI.<\/p>\n
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