Altman Testifies Musk Wanted OpenAI Passed to His Kids
Sam Altman appeared on the witness stand Tuesday in the Musk v. Altman trial. He faced intense questioning from Elon Musk's attorneys about claims of deceit and his various financial ties. Altman described Musk as fixated on dominating OpenAI.
Musk's legal team needed this cross-examination after earlier difficulties building a strong argument. The session featured sharp confrontations where Altman addressed charges from past associates labeling him unreliable. Such points matter not just for swaying the jury but also for shaping views outside court. Just before the trial began, Musk messaged OpenAI President Greg Brockman, warning that he and Altman would become "the most hated men in America."
Trial Allegations and Donations
Musk's suit claims Altman essentially took over the OpenAI nonprofit. It alleges misuse of Musk's $38 million contribution to build a for-profit entity now valued above $850 billion.
Tuesday brought scant proof to fill holes in Musk's position. Altman and Sam Teller, once Musk's chief of staff, both said they remembered no unique terms tied to Musk's gifts to OpenAI. Evidence mounts that Musk sued too late. Years passed since his final donation and his doubts about the group's charitable duties. The statute of limitations had run out by then.
Greg Brockman attended with his wife Anna and OpenAI's chief futurist Joshua Achiam. They watched Musk testify earlier, but Musk left before Altman's turn. Records show he headed to the Washington, DC area that day, planning a China trip with President Donald Trump.
Altman's Account of Musk's Control Push
Altman's own lawyers asked mild questions first. Dressed in a purple tie, he presented himself as an entrepreneur drawn to AI's strength and risks. OpenAI started in 2015 as a nonprofit cofounded by Musk, Altman, Brockman, and others to advance safe artificial general intelligence. Musk departed the board in 2018 amid disagreements over direction and funding.
Altman said Musk fixated on running OpenAI. He cited a striking episode where Musk proposed his kids take charge if he passed away. "We didn't feel comfortable with that," Altman stated. He also called Musk's 2018 offer to lead a Tesla AI division a "vague, lightweight threat" aimed at sidelining OpenAI.
Intense Cross-Examination
Musk attorney Steven Molo opened aggressively. His initial query: "Are you completely trustworthy?" Altman said he believed himself to be. Molo followed up, asking if the jury should believe Altman's prior words. Altman replied, "That's up to them. I'm not going to tell the jury what to think."
The clash continued:
Molo: Do you always tell the truth?
Altman: I'm sure there is some time in my life where I have not.
Molo: Do you tell lies to advance your business interests?
Altman: No.
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Molo: Have you misled people with whom you do business?
Altman: I do not think so.
Molo: Do they think so?
Altman: I can't answer that for other people.
Molo: You've repeatedly been called a liar by people you've done business with, right?
Altman: I've heard people say that.
Molo reviewed claims from ex-OpenAI leaders like Musk, Ilya Sutskever, Mira Murati, Tasha McCauley, and Anthropic founders Dario and Daniela Amodei. He even raised old charges from Altman's Loopt days around 15 years back, about falsifying daily active users.
Altman sidestepped, requesting exact quotes and denying knowledge of some issues.
Investments and Conflicts
Molo pressed on Altman's stakes in OpenAI partners. A House oversight panel wrote Altman Monday night, seeking details on conflicts. Altman holds nearly $2 billion in Helion, the nuclear startup. OpenAI agreed with Helion in 2024 for potential AI energy buys if fusion works, though Helion sells none yet. He owns $600 million in Stripe, plus investments in Reddit and Cerebras, all with OpenAI pacts.
Altman countered he has guided OpenAI well. The nonprofit ranks among history's best-funded charities with over $200 billion in equity. "I do not believe I could have taken any other actions to get $200 billion into a nonprofit," he said.
Questions of Power and Governance
Altman portrayed Musk as power-hungry, but Molo flipped it. Altman conceded thinking about a California governor bid around 2017. He dropped it later that year, as he noted publicly.
Molo challenged if OpenAI's nonprofit board can truly hire and fire leaders, as the company insists. He showed texts post-Altman's firing from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Bret Taylor. They plotted a favorable new board, with Taylor joining as chair.
Altman explained he sought guarantees to return. The firing board picked replacements and brought him back. "I almost didn't come back because I was so upset. I thought there had been such a failure in governance, and the way the board had gone about this left such a lack of confidence from the people that needed to run the company," he said. "Everything I had built was going to get destroyed. I was willing to run back into a burning building."
Altman now serves on OpenAI's board, common for CEOs. Molo asked if he would dismiss himself. Altman, possibly returning Wednesday, said no such plan exists.
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