Altman vs. Musk Trial Testimony
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand in the Musk v. Altman trial this week, telling a federal jury in Oakland that he did not steal a charity but inherited one that Elon Musk abandoned, CNBC reported Wednesday.
Altman testified for roughly four hours in the Northern California courtroom. His core argument was direct: Musk walked away from OpenAI and left it struggling, rather than being pushed out of a mission he cared about.
“We were kind of left for dead,” Altman told the jury, according to CNBC.
The Accusations at the Center of the Case
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk filed his lawsuit against Altman, OpenAI and company president Greg Brockman in 2024. Musk alleged the trio betrayed OpenAI’s founding commitment to remain a nonprofit. He also claimed roughly $38 million he donated to the organization was directed toward unauthorized commercial activities. Musk has repeatedly framed the situation as Altman and Brockman trying to “steal a charity.”
Altman rejected that characterization under oath. He testified he made no promises to Musk regarding the company’s permanent nonprofit status. He also suggested Musk’s true priority was personal control over the organization, not its charitable mission.
Background: A Breakup Years in the Making
The trial has centered heavily on internal negotiations from 2017 and 2018, when OpenAI’s founders debated how to fund the company’s rapidly expanding computing needs. Various corporate structures, including for-profit models, were discussed but no agreement was reached.
Musk resigned from OpenAI’s board in February 2018. Altman testified the departure initially worried staff about funding and potential retaliation. Yet he also acknowledged some researchers felt relieved, describing Musk’s management approach as demotivating to the research team.
“I don’t think Mr. Musk understood how to run a good research lab,” Altman said, per CNBC.
A 0% Chance and an $850 Billion Outcome
Months after leaving the board, Musk sent an email to OpenAI’s leadership in December 2018 declaring the company had essentially no chance of competing with DeepMind and Google without billions of dollars in immediate annual funding. Altman called that message something that stayed with him permanently.
OpenAI subsequently built a for-profit subsidiary after Musk’s departure. That entity is now valued at over $850 billion by private market investors, making it one of the most valuable private companies in history.
The trial, which opened in late April, continues in Oakland federal court.
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