Elon Musk, Sam Altman go to court in the case of the idea of the invention of Open AI
Listen to this article
Average 6 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations may occur. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Tech giants Elon Musk and Sam Altman are set to face a tough case surrounding allegations of betrayal, deceit and unbridled ambition that have clouded the feuding billionaires' once shared vision of developing artificial intelligence.
The trial, scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection, focuses on the 2015 birth of ChatGPT maker OpenAI as a nonprofit startup funded by Musk first before evolving into a venture capital firm now valued at $852 billion.
The outcome of the case could affect the power of AI – a cutting-edge technology that is increasingly feared as a job killer and an existential threat to human survival.
Those perceived risks are among the reasons Musk, the world's richest man, cited for filing an August 2024 lawsuit to be decided by a judge and US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, Calif.
The civil suit accuses Altman, OpenAI's CEO, and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by deviating from the San Francisco-based company's founding mission of being a dedicated steward of revolutionary technology. The case alleges that they switched to money-making mode behind his back.
OpenAI has dismissed Musk's allegations as a baseless case of sour grapes aimed at slowing its rapid growth and strengthening Musk's xAI, which is launching in 2023 as a competitor.
Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 to May 2017, initially sought damages of more than $100 billion.
But any damage now is likely to be minimal after a series of pre-trial rulings against Musk. Musk has stopped asking for compensation and is instead seeking an undisclosed amount of money to be paid to fund the unscrupulous efforts of OpenAI's philanthropic arm. The money will be paid primarily for OpenAI's for-profit operations, as well as Microsoft, which became the company's largest investor after Musk cut his funding.
In an open letter about the risks to society, Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives called for a six-month pause in building systems more powerful than OpenAI's recently launched GPT-4. Other experts in Canada also put their names on that list.
Musk's lawsuit also seeks Altman's ouster from OpenAI's board. Musk's decision to stop supporting the company has contributed to a major conflict among former partners. Musk says he was responding to the deceptive behavior of OpenAI's board when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023 before he got the job days later.
But the case also carries risks for Musk, who last month was found guilty by another judge of defrauding investors when he took over Twitter in 2022 for US $44 billion. Any damaging information about Musk and his business tactics could be especially painful now that his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, plans to go public this summer in an initial public offering that could net him billions worldwide.
However, it turns out that the case is expected to provide a dramatic theater, with different testimonies from two of the most powerful people and technical figures in the 54-year-old Musk and the 41-year-old Altman.
“Part of this is about whether the judge believes the people who are going to testify and whether they are credible,” said Gonzalez Rogers during a court hearing earlier this year as he explained why he believed the case was worth going to trial. The judge will make the final decision on the case, the judge has an advisory role.
A glimpse into the early days of AI
Musk, whose net worth is estimated at $780 billion, has long been hailed as a visionary for his roles with PayPal, electric automaker Tesla and SpaceX. But he also sparked backlash for his comments on social media, unfulfilled promises about Tesla's self-driving technology and his role in cutting costs last year in the administration of US President Donald Trump and the newly created Department of Government Operations (DOGE).
Some of Musk's unusual behavior has been linked to his alleged illegal drug use, but Gonzalez Rogers ruled that he could not be questioned during the trial about his alleged use of ketamine.
But a judge is allowing Musk to be questioned about his attendance at the 2017 Burning Man event in Nevada, a free celebration known for widespread drug use. The judge also allows Musk to be investigated for his relationship with former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, the mother of several of his children.
Altman, currently sitting on a fortune estimated at $3 billion in the United States, did not appear in public until the end of 2022 ChatGPT release. Although Altman was initially hailed as a trailblazer, he is now facing blowback amid concerns about the potential dangers of AI.
Front burner32:33Inside OpenAI's passionate pursuit of AI governance
Earlier this month, the New Yorker magazine published a profile painting him as an unscrupulous executive. Days later, a 20-year-old man concerned about the impact of AI on humanity was arrested on charges of attempted murder after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Altman's home in San Francisco.
Altman and Musk's concrete testimony is expected to open a window into some of the thinking that helped spark the AI race, as well as the revelation of their friendship. The relationship began in 2015 when they agreed to build AI in a more responsible and safer way than for-profit companies controlled by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to testimony submitted before the trial.
Details of the bitter break between the two men were gleaned from a February 2023 email that emerged as part of evidence leading up to the trial.
After telling Musk that he is “my hero,” Altman tells him: “I'm so grateful for everything you've done to help – I don't think OpenAI would have happened without you – and really. [expletive] it hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI.”
Musk's response: “I understand and it is certainly not my intention to harm, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake.”
