OAKLAND, California – A lawyer for billionaire Elon Musk apologised to jurors on Thursday for Musk’s absence from court, as closing statements began in his lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup OpenAI. The lawyer, Steven Molo, urged the jury not to draw negative conclusions from Musk’s nonappearance.
The trial, which has lasted three weeks, has reached a critical stage. Meanwhile, Musk was in China meeting with President Donald Trump and other business leaders, despite being told by the trial judge that he was required to attend and could be called back to testify. Musk’s public comments in Beijing described the discussions with President Xi Jinping as “awesome.”
The lawsuit revolves around OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model to secure funds for its research and development, including its flagship app, ChatGPT. Musk, an original co-founder and early supporter, claims that OpenAI has abandoned its nonprofit roots. In response, OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, insists that a nonprofit still oversees the organisation and that Musk was on board with their for-profit plans.
Though Musk initiated the case, he has not returned to court for two weeks after testifying for three days. Altman, however, was present in court during closing arguments.
Molo highlighted that five witnesses had accused Altman of dishonesty and suggested Altman’s reputation was unreliable, using a bridge analogy to illustrate his point. Additionally, he raised concerns about Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman profiting from the organisation.
OpenAI’s representatives countered this view by clarifying that the executives created the value in question and defended their actions as legitimate. They argued that Musk’s motivations were contrary to his claims of wanting to maintain OpenAI as a nonprofit, asserting that he had previously proposed merging OpenAI with Tesla. They also indicated that Musk’s lawsuit may be time-barred, stating he could have raised his concerns much earlier.
Test Your Understanding
How much do you know?
