Musk clashes with OpenAI lawyer on third day of for-profit conversion trial

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk locked horns on Thursday with a lawyer representing OpenAI during his third day on the witness stand in the high-stakes trial examining the artificial-intelligence firm's transition from a non-profit organisation into a for-profit operation now valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

At the heart of the case is the founding of the ChatGPT developer back in 2015, when it was launched as a non-profit start-up bankrolled in large part by Musk himself. The world's wealthiest individual is squaring off against Sam Altman, a co-founder he claims broke commitments to keep the venture a non-profit working for the good of humanity.

While testifying, Musk objected repeatedly to the manner of questioning by OpenAI's lawyer, William Savitt, charging that the attorney was framing queries in a misleading way meant to mislead both him and the jury.

At one stage on Thursday, Savitt revisited testimony Musk had given earlier, in which he indicated that OpenAI had not breached its non-profit commitments so long as a ceiling existed on what investors could earn. "It depends on how high the cap is," Musk responded. Savitt pressed further, telling Musk that "wasn't your complete answer yesterday, right?"

Musk shot back, saying "few answers are going to be complete, especially if you cut me off all the time". He went on to argue that if the limit on returns is "super high", then OpenAI is "really a for-profit at that point".

Attorneys representing OpenAI have pushed back on the claims set out in Musk's civil suit, maintaining that no undertaking was ever given that the company would stay a non-profit indefinitely. The firm has also contended that Musk's court action is intended to slow OpenAI's swift expansion while giving a leg up to xAI, the rival venture he started in 2023.

The proceedings, taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, are expected to run through the latter part of May. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers released Musk from the stand on Thursday, though he could be summoned back at a later point.

During the cross-examination, Savitt also questioned Musk about his other ventures — Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and X — asking whether each operated on a for-profit basis. Musk confirmed they did, and stated his view that the businesses are all "socially beneficial".

Savitt then put it to Musk that, eight years on from his departure from OpenAI, he had yet to launch a non-profit of his own. "I thought I had started a non-profit with OpenAI but they stole it," Musk replied, describing that grievance as "the entire basis of this lawsuit".