Altman goes on offensive in landmark OpenAI trial
OAKLAND, Calif. — OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman responded to Elon Musk’s accusations that he “stole” OpenAI and diverted it from its non-profit mission by claiming that Musk himself was seeking control of the company in its early years.
During the trial over OpenAI’s future, Altman recounted a tense moment when Musk was asked what would happen to the company if he passed away and had control. Musk’s response that control should pass to his children made Altman uncomfortable.
Altman expressed discomfort with Musk’s views on AI safety and described a morale boost at OpenAI when Musk became less involved in the company.
The trial, now in its third week, has become a clash of tech titans that could impact OpenAI’s future and leadership.
Musk is suing Altman for removal from OpenAI, alleging a violation of its charitable mission and seeking damages of $180 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft.
OpenAI, known for its AI tool ChatGPT, has raised significant funding and could potentially have a trillion-dollar IPO.
Altman used his testimony to defend OpenAI’s safety efforts and address character attacks from former OpenAI executives.
Musk’s lawsuit claims that Altman manipulated him into funding OpenAI with $38 million before it changed its mission to a for-profit model.
Former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever testified about a pattern of lying by Altman, while Musk expressed regret for providing funding to OpenAI.
