Nadella Takes the Stand in Musk v. Altman Trial

CNBC reported Monday that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the witness stand in the ongoing Musk v. Altman federal trial in Oakland, California. His central point was direct. Elon Musk never personally contacted Nadella to challenge Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI.

Nadella OpenAI Testimony Centers on Investment Intent

Nadella told the court he was proud Microsoft backed OpenAI at a time when few others would. He described the partnership’s commercial logic from the start. Microsoft provided OpenAI with heavily discounted computing resources in its early years. In return, Microsoft expected significant marketing and reputational benefits from the arrangement.

He also pushed back on any suggestion that Microsoft’s financial contributions were charitable donations. There was always a clear commercial dimension to the deal, he said from the stand.

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Background: Microsoft’s Billions and a Ballooning Valuation

Microsoft has been investing in OpenAI since 2019. Its cumulative financial commitment now exceeds $13 billion, spanning a $1 billion entry stake, a follow-on $2 billion round in 2021, and a landmark $10 billion injection in 2023. OpenAI’s valuation has since climbed to more than $850 billion. Microsoft separately disclosed a roughly 27% stake in OpenAI’s for-profit unit, valued at around $135 billion, after OpenAI completed a recapitalization last October.

Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2015. He departed the board in 2018 following disagreements over the company’s direction. OpenAI established its for-profit subsidiary in the months that followed, enabling it to absorb outside capital more freely.

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Musk Sees the $10 Billion Round as the Breaking Point

When Musk testified late last month, he identified Microsoft’s $10 billion investment as the moment his suspicion crystallised. He told the court that the sheer scale of that transaction convinced him OpenAI had abandoned its nonprofit commitments. He said he feared the organisation was effectively being misappropriated from its charitable purpose.

Musk’s lawsuit names Microsoft as a defendant on grounds that it aided and abetted OpenAI’s alleged breach of charitable trust. Nadella’s testimony directly undercut a key premise of that claim. He said Musk never contacted him to allege any violation of special terms or obligations.

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