Elon Musk’s court battle against OpenAI nears final stage

He also wants Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman removed from their roles. Microsoft has spent more than 100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified. OpenAI competes with AI companies such as Anthropic and Musk’s smaller xAI, and is preparing for a possible initial public offering that could value the business at 1 trillion.Musk’s xAI is now part of his space and rocket company SpaceX, which is also preparing a potential blockbuster IPO.Lawyers to argue remedies while jurors deliberateU.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing the case.It is unclear when the nine-person jury will begin deliberations.If there is no verdict before Monday, the judge and lawyers will return to court that day to discuss how OpenAI should be restructured and what damages should be paid if Musk wins.Gonzalez Rogers will determine remedies and will award none if Musk loses.The trial comes amid significant public concerns over AI as it penetrates society.People use AI for myriad purposes such as facial recognition, financial advice, journalism, medical diagnoses, and harmful deepfakes. Many people express distrust of the technology and worry it could displace people from their jobs.Musk’s and Altman’s sincerity was challengedOpenAI was founded by Altman, Musk and several others in 2015, though Musk left its board in 2018.The sincerity of Altman and Musk about their attitudes towards OpenAI and goals for the AI business has been a central issue in the trial, and neither person has emerged unscathed.OpenAI has tried to show that even Musk supported its creation of a for-profit business to raise money for computing power and fend off rivals such as Google.It has also said Musk demanded unilateral control to ensure his continued support. Musk’s effort last year to buy OpenAI through an xAI-led consortium has also been a point of dispute, with OpenAI trying to show it was inconsistent with Musk’s goals in his lawsuit.Musk’s lawyers have tried to portray Altman and Brockman as interested in riches for themselves. They elicited testimony that Altman had a more than 2 billion stake in companies that did business with OpenAI, and Brockman’s statement that his own OpenAI stake was worth nearly 30 billion. Musk’s lawyers have also portrayed Altman as dishonest, including through testimony about his 2023 ouster by OpenAI’s board, which challenged his candour. Altman was reinstated in less than one week. Former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever testified to having gathered evidence to show Altman’s “consistent pattern of lying.” Musk’s lawyer also questioned whether Altman had conflicts of interest through his involvement in companies that worked with OpenAI.Altman said he has no direct equity stake in OpenAI, though he has a stake in a fund invested in the company.