“What the hell is going on?”
That’s what Elon Musk told a federal California jury Wednesday he texted Sam Altman after learning in early 2023 that tech giant Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI.
Musk, who cofounded OpenAI with Altman more than a decade ago, said he blasted the move in the text as a “bait-and-switch.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the comments during his second day on the witness stand in his blockbuster civil trial over OpenAI’s for-profit transition from a nonprofit research lab. He is seeking to convince the jury that OpenAI and other defendants were “unjustly enriched to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“Microsoft would only put $10 billion — which is a huge sum of money — into something if they feel like they will get a return,” Musk said in explaining why he was so mad about the investment. Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, was in the courtroom during Musk’s testimony.
Musk, while under direct questioning by his lead trial attorney, Steven Molo, said he was concerned that Microsoft would effectively be in control of AGI, or artificial general intelligence, that was “started by a charity.”
“Microsoft would have motivations that are different from a charity,” Musk added.
The investment was Microsoft’s second in OpenAI. Microsoft first invested $1 billion in 2019.
When asked why Musk didn’t file any lawsuits in 2019, he said that he understood the situation as one with a capped profit. Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018, said he believed that Microsoft had “agreed to be involved in a cap profit way.”
In 2024, Musk sued OpenAI, Altman, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman over the AI company’s transition to a for-profit entity.
Amy Osborne / AFP via Getty Images
The lawsuit, which later added Microsoft as a defendant, alleges Altman and Brockman abandoned OpenAI’s founding mission as a nonprofit dedicated to developing AI for the public’s benefit, and not for private gain.
Musk says in his lawsuit that he invested $38 million in seed money over the years to support that mission, only to be “betrayed” by the company’s transformation into a “for-profit, market-paralyzing gorgon” that’s essentially a “subsidiary of Microsoft.”
Microsoft’s attorney, Russell P. Cohen, told the jury in opening statements on Tuesday that Microsoft “helped OpenAI pursue and further its mission.”
“Unlike Mr. Musk, Microsoft never tried to control OpenAI,” Cohen said.
When asked on Wednesday how Musk responds to those comments, Musk testified, “They’re trying to trick the jury.”
Throughout the monthlong trial, the jury is expected to hear more testimony from tech heavyweights, including Altman, Brockman, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
OpenAI has repeatedly slammed Musk’s lawsuit as “baseless,” and in opening arguments, OpenAI and Altman’s lead lawyer, William Savitt, told the jury that Musk only went after the ChatGPT-maker because he “didn’t get his way with OpenAI.”
“The only thing Musk cared about is being on top,” said Savitt.
While under cross-examination by Savitt on Wednesday, Musk accused the attorney of trying to “trick” him.
“Your questions are not simple. They’re designed to trick me, essentially,” Musk said to Savitt. “Any simple answer would be misleading to the jury.”
