Elon Musk testified in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, telling a jury that he conceived, named and funded OpenAI on the explicit understanding that it would never be operated for private gain, as the high-stakes legal battle between the world’s richest man and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman entered its second day of proceedings before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman were both present in the courtroom.
Musk Says He Founded OpenAI to Counter Google, Not to Make a Profit
Pulling up to court in a black Cadillac, Tesla boss Elon Musk told the court that his original motivation for helping establish OpenAI was to create a nonprofit, open-source counterweight to Google, whose approach to artificial intelligence he had grown deeply uneasy about. He said the idea took shape following a heated argument with Google co-founder Larry Page.
“I could have started it as a for-profit and I chose not to,” Musk said on the stand. “I chose to make it something for the benefit of all humanity.”
Elon Musk Testifies Larry Page Called Him a ‘Speciesist for Being Pro-Human’
Describing the falling-out with Larry Page that he said crystallised his concerns about AI development, Elon Musk testified in Court that the Google co-founder had dismissed his worries about safety by calling him “a speciesist for being pro-human.”
Musk told the court he believed Page was not taking the risks of advanced artificial intelligence seriously, and that this convinced him a separate, safety-focused nonprofit institution was necessary.
Elon Musk Claims He Came Up With the Idea, the Name and Recruited the Key People
Under questioning from his lead trial attorney, Steven Molo, Elon Musk offered a sweeping account of his role in bringing OpenAI into existence, portraying himself as the driving force behind the organisation’s creation.
“I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all the initial funding,” Musk said.
Elon Musk on OpenAI’s Founding Charter: ‘No Person Shall Benefit From This Charity’
Elon Musk’s legal team introduced OpenAI’s founding charter from 2015 as evidence, displaying it before the jury on a courtroom monitor. The document declared that OpenAI would seek to create “open source technology for the public benefit” and that it was “not organised for the private gain of any person.”
Tesla boss Elon Musk said the language was not incidental.
“It was specifically meant to be for a charity that did not benefit any individual person,” he said.
Musk Warns: ‘If the Verdict Comes Out That It’s OK to Loot a Charity, Charitable Giving in America Will Be Destroyed’
In remarks that drew an immediate objection from OpenAI’s legal team, Elon Musk broadened his argument beyond the specifics of his own case, telling the court that the trial carried implications for philanthropy across the country.
“If the verdict comes out that it’s OK to loot a charity, charitable giving in America will be destroyed,” he said.
Elon Musk on a For-Profit Subsidiary: ‘As Long as the Tail Didn’t Wag the Dog’
Musk acknowledged that the possibility of establishing a for-profit component had come up in early discussions about how to sustain the organisation financially. He said he was not categorically opposed to such a structure, but attached a clear condition to his support for it.
“We discussed, brainstormed about different ways to fund the charity. We did talk about establishing a for-profit or Tesla providing the funding,” Musk said. “As long as the tail didn’t wag the dog, essentially.”
Musk on AI and the Future of Humanity: ‘It Could Make Us More Prosperous, But It Could Also Kill Us All’
In perhaps the most striking passage of his testimony, Elon Musk set out his view of the stakes involved in the development of artificial intelligence, offering the jury a bleak but vivid assessment of the technology’s potential trajectories.
“It could make us more prosperous, but it could also kill us all,” he said. “We want to be in a Gene Roddenberry movie, like Star Trek, not so much a James Cameron movie, like Terminator.”
In Court Elon Musk Compares Training AI to Raising Children
Seeking to explain the philosophical underpinning of his concern about AI safety, Elon Musk drew on an analogy that he said captured both the importance and the limits of human oversight over the systems being developed.
“It’s like if you had a very smart child. At the end of the day when the child grows up, you can’t really control that child, but you can try to instil the right values. Honesty, integrity, caring about humanity, being good, essentially,” he said.
Musk Predicts AI Will Match Human Intelligence ‘As Soon as Next Year’
Offering a timeline that underscored the urgency he attaches to questions of AI governance and safety, Elon Musk told the court he expected artificial general intelligence to arrive sooner than most observers anticipate.
“My guess is that AI will probably be as smart as any human as soon as next year,” he said.
Elon Musk on Neuralink and AI Safety: ‘Better Human-AI Symbiosis’
Describing his work at the brain-computer interface company Neuralink, Elon Musk told the court that the venture’s long-term purpose was bound up with the same safety concerns that had motivated his founding of OpenAI.
“The long-term goal of Neuralink was actually AI safety, in the sense that if we can closely tie the human world to AI, basically if we’re going to achieve better human-AI symbiosis, then we’re more likely to have a future with AI that is good for humanity,” he said.
What OpenAI Said in Court: ‘Musk Never Cared About AI Safety’
OpenAI’s attorney, William Savitt, used his opening statement to mount a direct challenge to Musk’s account of his motivations. Savitt argued that Musk’s true grievance was not about nonprofit principles but about personal ambition and control.
“Musk never cared whether OpenAI was a not-for-profit. He never cared about AI safety,” Savitt said. “What he cared about was Elon Musk on top.”
Savitt told the jury that Musk had used his $1 billion financial commitment to “bully” fellow members of the founding team, and that “we’re here because Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI.”
OpenAI has characterised the lawsuit as a baseless “harassment campaign,” stating publicly that it “can’t wait to make our case in court where both the truth and the law are on our side.”
What Elon Musk Is Seeking From the Trial
Elon Musk originally sought up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of the company’s largest backers and a co-defendant in the case. He has since revised that position and is now asking that all “ill-gotten gains” be directed to the OpenAI charity rather than paid to him personally.
OpenAI completed a major restructuring in October, removing its profit cap under its reimagined for-profit entity, which continues to be overseen by a nonprofit foundation. The company subsequently raised $122 billion in its latest funding round.
What Happens Next in the Elon Musk v Sam Altman Trial
Elon Musk’s testimony was expected to continue on Wednesday, after which his legal team indicated it would call Jared Birchall to the stand. Birchall manages Musk’s finances through his family office, Excession LLC, and holds executive roles at xAI and Neuralink.
The trial, which is scheduled to run for four weeks, is expected to hear from a range of high-profile witnesses, potentially including Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, leading AI researchers and current and former members of OpenAI’s board.