What you need to know
- Elon Musk is the headliner, taking the stand for a second day as his lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman rolls on.
- Musk seemed relaxed and at ease during testimony Tuesday, where he took credit for OpenAI’s early days and key hires.
- Jared Birchall, who manages Musk’s family office and is also an executive at xAI and Neuralink, will be next to testify.
- Musk is asking for Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman to be removed and for up to $134 billion in “wrongful gains” to be put into the OpenAI charity. He previously wanted the $134 billion for himself.
Elon Musk will continue his testimony on Wednesday as the high-profile trial in his lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman enters its third day.
Musk sued OpenAI, Altman and Greg Brockman, the company’s president, two years ago, alleging they reneged on their commitments to preserve the artificial intelligence lab’s nonprofit structure. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, claims the roughly $38 million he contributed to the company was used for unauthorized commercial purposes that did not advance its charitable mission.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was called to the stand to testify on Tuesday, where he told the jury about his background, his role in launching OpenAI and his understanding of its structure. He said he believes the time, money, expertise and resources he poured into the company during its early days were foundational to its success.
Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 after a number of disagreements with Altman and Brockman about the company’s direction, including a failed effort to merge it with Tesla. Following Musk’s departure, OpenAI established a for-profit subsidiary that allowed it to raise the capital it needed to develop its technology more easily.
During questioning on Tuesday, Musk said he wasn’t opposed to a smaller for-profit subsidiary within OpenAI, “as long as the tail didn’t wag the dog.” He said he does not think it’s acceptable for the for-profit to take the “vast majority of the value” away from the nonprofit.
“I could have started it as a for-profit and I chose not to,” Musk said on Tuesday. “I chose to make it something for the benefit of all humanity.”
OpenAI has repeatedly dismissed Musk’s lawsuit as baseless. William Savitt, OpenAI’s attorney, told the jury on Tuesday that Musk sued because he “didn’t get his way at OpenAI.”
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is presiding over the trial in federal court in Oakland, California.
CNBC’s reporters are covering the trial, live on air and online, from the courtroom, as well as from CNBC’s bureaus in San Francisco and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
