Altman Testifies in Musk Suit, Defends OpenAI Changes

Sam Altman testified in a courtroom this week, denying Elon Musk’s claim that he ‘looted’ OpenAI and defending the company’s shift from a nonprofit to a hybrid structure. Altman told jurors the Microsoft partnership and restructuring were necessary to obtain the computing power and capital needed to develop advanced AI. He described OpenAI as ‘still a large charity’ and framed his leadership and financial efforts as essential to keeping the lab operational.

Musk’s complaint alleges the 2019 restructuring and licensing agreements with Microsoft transferred value to private investors and insiders, contrary to the nonprofit mission. The filing notes Musk donated about $38 million to OpenAI before he stopped giving in 2017. Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 and later founded the for-profit AI company xAI.

Altman rejected claims that he and OpenAI President Greg Brockman turned the lab into a profit-driven enterprise. He testified the organization evolved to meet practical needs, including the billions of dollars in compute now required to build large AI models, and that the Microsoft deal supplied capital and infrastructure OpenAI could not otherwise obtain.

Altman also described episodes in OpenAI’s early years in which Musk sought closer ties or control. He recounted proposals that would have given Tesla access to the lab’s work and governance plans that could have allowed control to pass within Musk’s family. Those accounts were offered to show that Musk had at times pursued tighter involvement.

Legal observers and industry leaders are watching the case because it raises questions about how mission-focused research groups raise funds while preserving public-oriented goals. Some AI firms use public benefit or hybrid structures, while others follow conventional for-profit models. Several companies in the sector are exploring potential public offerings, and governance precedents could affect those paths.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit focused on developing artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity. The trial is ongoing as judges and jurors weigh testimony about the organization’s origins, intentions and the financial and governance decisions that shaped its evolution.