Tempers flared between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s lawyer on Thursday as the tech billionaire’s legal battle with the ChatGPT maker entered its third day.
The trial centres on Musk’s claim that OpenAI abandoned its founding mission and turned into a for-profit company.
Lawyers for OpenAI deny wrongdoing and have previously said Musk’s lawsuit aimed at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s own company xAI, which he launched in 2023.
During Thursday’s proceedings, OpenAI lawyer William Savitt questioned Musk about earlier testimony in which he said OpenAI would not necessarily be violating its founding commitments if investor profits were capped.
“It depends on how high the cap is,” Musk replied. Savitt then said that “wasn’t your complete answer yesterday right?” In response, Musk said “few answers are going to be complete, especially if you cut me off all the time”.
He added that if the cap is “super high,” then OpenAI is “really a for-profit at that point.”
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers also questioned Musk’s legal team about the fact that the billionaire is now building a company in the same sector as OpenAI.
“Your client, despite these risks, is creating a company that is in the exact same space,” she told Musk’s lawyers.
Savitt also asked Musk about his other companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and X, and whether they were all for-profit businesses. Musk said they were, and said he believed each was “socially beneficial”.
Savitt asked why Musk has not started a nonprofit himself, eight years after he left OpenAI.
“I thought I had started a nonprofit with OpenAI but they stole it,” Musk replied, adding that this is “the entire basis of this lawsuit.”
Musk accused Savitt of asking misleading questions designed to trick him and the jury.
Musk also referred to the Terminator films while discussing artificial intelligence and the future of humanity. Judge Rogers told both sides not to turn the case into a broader debate about the existential risks of AI.
“(People) don't want to put the future of humanity into Mr. Musk's hands,” Roger said.
“This is not a trial on the safety risks of artificial intelligence. This is not a trial on whether or not AI has damaged humanity,” she said.
The trial in federal court in Oakland, in California the United States, is scheduled to continue through late May. Judge Rogers excused Musk from the witness stand on Thursday, but he may be called back later.
Musk was the biggest individual financial backer of the ChatGPT maker in the beginning, contributing more than $44 million (€38 million) to the then-startup.
