Elon Musk takes stand in trial vs. Sam Altman that could reshape AI's
future
[April 29, 2026] By
BARBARA ORTUTAY
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, world's richest man and
OpenAI cofounder, took the stand Tuesday in a high-stakes trial
revolving around a bitter feud with his former friend Sam Altman that
could reshape the future development of artificial intelligence.
His testimony at the Oakland, California, federal courthouse kicked off
a legal drama that is expected to brim with intrigue and potentially
embarrassing details about the two tech moguls. Musk filed the lawsuit
against Altman and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, along with
Microsoft over its investments in OpenAI, in 2024.
“Fundamentally, I think they’re going to try to make this lawsuit ...
very complicated, but it’s actually very simple,” Musk said. “Which is
that it's not OK to steal a charity.”
The nine-person jury was selected Monday and the trial is scheduled to
take three weeks.
In the civil lawsuit, Musk accuses Altman and Brockman of
double-crossing him by straying from the San Francisco company’s
founding mission to be a steward of a revolutionary technology. In his
opening statement, Musk's attorney, Steven Molo, quoted OpenAI’s mission
statement when it was created as a nonprofit for the benefit of
humanity, not constrained by the need to generate financial enrichment
for anyone.
Altman and Brockman, aided by Microsoft, stole a charity “whose mission
was the safe, open development of artificial intelligence,” Molo said.
Musk is seeking damages and Altman’s ouster from OpenAI’s board.
OpenAI has brushed off Musk’s allegations as a case of sour grapes aimed
at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s own xAI, which he
launched in 2023 as a competitor.
Both sides recount the start of a bitter divide
In his opening statement, OpenAI lawyer William Savitt told jurors “we
are here because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way with OpenAI.”
Savitt said Musk used his promises of funding to bully OpenAI founding
members and tried to take control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla. In
fact, he said Musk wanted to form a for-profit company and own more than
50% of it.
There is no record, Savitt said, of promises made to Musk that OpenAI
was going to remain a nonprofit forever. What Musk ultimately cared
about, he said, was not OpenAI’s nonprofit status but winning the AI
race with Google.
Musk's attorney said the case is not about Musk, but rather Altman,
Brockman and Microsoft.
By 2017, about two years after OpenAI's founding, it became clear that
OpenAI would need more money, and Molo said the founders eventually
settled on the idea of creating a for-profit arm of OpenAI that would
support the nonprofit. Terms were capped for investors so they “couldn't
make infinite profit.”
“There is nothing wrong with a nonprofit having a for-profit subsidiary,
but (it) has to advance the mission,” Molo said.
Microsoft initially invested $2 billion in OpenAI. Then, in 2022, news
spread that OpenAI had done a deal with Microsoft and it was a
“game-changer," Molo said, which violated “every commitment” OpenAI made
not just to Musk but to the world. It was no longer open source, it
became a for-profit company for the benefit of the defendants and
Microsoft was going to have control, through licensing, of much of its
intellectual property, Molo said.
After opening statements, Musk's side began presenting a tale of alleged
betrayal, deceit and ambition that caused OpenAI to pivot from its
founding mission as an altruistic startup to a capitalistic venture now
valued at $852 billion.
[to top of second column] |
Elon Musk arrives at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif.,
Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
 Musk testifies on how he sees AI
evolving
Musk was the first to testify, with his lawyer starting off asking
about his life story. This included details about his move, at 17,
from South Africa to Canada where for a time Musk said he worked as
a lumberjack among other odd jobs, then to the U.S. He recounted the
slew of companies he founded and runs, including SpaceX, Tesla, The
Boring Company, Neuralink and others.
Asked how he has time for everything, Musk said he works 80 to 100
hours a week, doesn't take vacations and owns no vacation homes or
yachts.
Molo also asked Musk about his views on AI. Musk said he expects AI
to be “smarter than any human” as soon as next year. Musk said a
longstanding concern about AI is the question of what happens when
computers become much smarter than humans. Comparing it to having a
“very smart child,” Musk said when the child grows up “you can't
control that child,” but you can instill values such as honesty,
integrity and being good.
Musk recounted his version of OpenAI's founding, which he said
essentially happened because of a discussion he had with Google
co-founder Larry Page, who called him a “specieist" for elevating
the survival of humanity over that of AI.
The kinship between Musk and Altman was forged in 2015 when they
agreed to build AI in a more responsible and safer way than the
profit-driven companies controlled by Google's Page and Sergey Brin
and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to evidence
submitted ahead of the trial.
At that time, Musk said, Google had all the money, all the computers
and all the talent for AI. “There was no counterbalance.”
Musk recalled there was discussion early on about alternative
sources for funding OpenAI beyond donations, and he wasn't opposed
to it having a for-profit arm, but “the tail shouldn't wag the dog.”
There would be a profit limit, and once artificial general
intelligence, or AGI, was “figured out,” the for-profit would cease
to exist.
Musk is expected to continue testifying Wednesday.
Altman, OpenAI's CEO, is also expected to testify, along with
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, one of the technology leaders who
helped fund the late 2022 release of ChatGPT, the chatbot that
unleashed the current AI boom that has propelled the stock market to
record heights.
Altman’s court appearance likely made him unavailable to attend an
Amazon event across San Francisco Bay on Tuesday at which both
companies announced an expanded partnership.
“I wish I could be there with you in person today,” Altman told
attendees of Amazon’s event in San Francisco via a prerecorded video
message. “My schedule got taken away from me today.”
___
AP Technology Writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this story from
Providence, Rhode Island.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
