Sam Altman says Elon Musk tried to ‘kill' OpenAI, in tense courtroom showdown

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back against Elon Musk's accusations that he "stole a charity" by abandoning the company's nonprofit mission to benefit humanity in favor of profits.

"We created the largest or one of the largest charities in the world," Altman said Tuesday on the witness stand in Oakland federal court during the ongoing trial of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI. "It feels difficult to even wrap my head around that framing."

Altman, wearing a dark blue suit and purple tie, faced off against Musk's attorney Steven Molo, who immediately sought to cast Altman as someone who was deceptive and ambitious during cross-examination.

The pair repeatedly sparred over Altman's phrasing. Molo's first question to Altman: "Are you completely trustworthy?" "I believe so," Altman responded. "What, you don't know that you're completely trustworthy?" Molo said. "I'll just amend my answer to yes," Altman replied.

"Have you misled people, with whom you do business?" Molo asked. "I believe I am an honest and trustworthy business person," Altman said. "That wasn't my question, about what you believe? My question was, have you misled people with whom you do business?" Molo said. "I do not think so," Altman said. "Would they think so?" Molo asked. "I can't answer that for other people," Altman replied.

Molo then cited previous testimony from ex-OpenAI executives turned critics and rivals, who have all accused Altman of lying and deception: OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, ex-chief technology officer Mira Murati and Anthropic co-founders Dario and Daniela Amodei.

"I don't agree with that characterization," Altman said repeatedly. The 41-year-old OpenAI leader remained calm, in contrast to Musk's combative cross-examination two weeks ago, in which Musk argued with OpenAI's lawyer and said he wasn't asking fair questions.

Musk's 2024 lawsuit alleges breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment by Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, which could send shockwaves through the world of artificial intelligence. Musk is seeking to oust Altman from the company, roll back OpenAI's transition to a for-profit public benefit corporation, and damages upwards of $132 billion that Musk said would go to the OpenAI nonprofit. The company's partner Microsoft is a co-defendant, and CEO Satya Nadella took the witness stand Monday.

Molo sought to cast Altman as putting his personal ambitions and enrichment before OpenAI's mission. In a 2017 email, Sutskevar and Altman's co-defendent and OpenAI President Greg Brockman questioned whether Altman's desire to become CEO was tied to his "political goals."

Molo asked if Altman wanted to run for President of the United States. Altman responded that he had instead thought about running for California governor in 2017, when Altman was still president of Y Combinator and OpenAI was little known. He ultimately did not.

In earlier testimony, Altman said he was "extremely uncomfortable" with Musk controlling OpenAI. He said at one point Musk sought 90% equity in OpenAI.

"Part of the reason that we started working on (this) was that we did not think (artificial general intelligence) should be under the control of any one person. … This needs a rigorous governing structure. And although Mr. Musk was saying he would give up control later, I had quite a lot of experience with startups and I'd seen a lot of control fights. And I learned that especially when the company was going well, the founders who had control did not usually give it up," Altman said.

Altman said repeatedly that OpenAI's nonprofit mission remains intact, and the company is helping fund healthcare research such as Alzheimer treatment and economic opportunity.

Altman said Musk, in contrast, gave up on the company and didn't believe it could succeed, pulling much of his funding.

"Mr. Musk did try to kill it, I guess twice," Altman said. The court struck those remarks from the record.

Altman revisited his chaotic 2023 firing by OpenAI's board, which was prompted by board members saying he was "not candid" in his communications.

Molo later asked if Altman, as CEO of both OpenAI and a board member of its nonprofit, would ever fire himself. "Theoretically some day, I get to retire," Altman said.

Molo, unhappy with the answer, said he was talking about oversight. Altman said there could be some "crazy scenario" where he did fire himself, but he hadn't thought about it.

Altman completed his testimony just prior to 1 p.m. Closing statements are expected Thursday, followed by jury deliberation. However, the jury is an advisor to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will make the final ruling. If Musk wins, the trial will go to a second phase on damages. If OpenAI wins, the trial could end as soon as next week.

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