Link copied Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, testifies before a Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — The chief executive officer of one of the most profitable artificial intelligence companies in the world testified Tuesday in a blockbuster jury trial that pits OpenAI’s Sam Altman against one of his co-founders, the world’s richest person, Elon Musk. One of the last witnesses in the three-week trial, Altman took the stand for most of the day as the most consequential defendant in the case. No other person in OpenAI is more associated with the profitability of the AI organization — which includes a nonprofit dedicated to developing artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all humanity and “unconstrained to make a profit" and a for-profit entity that raises capital for its computing power and to follow the mission of the nonprofit while also making money for its shareholders. The structure makes it one of the most unique corporate enterprises in the Silicon Valley tech world and most other industries. Altman claimed he was the main fundraiser for the nonprofit after Musk left the organization in 2018. He brokered the partnership with Microsoft, with $13 billion in investment over several years in exchange for early licenses to commercialize OpenAI’s technology and access to its intellectual property. Through questioning by OpenAI’s lead counsel, William Savitt, Altman said he was also responsible for early fundraising of millions of dollars from Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, and Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, among others. Altman testified that Musk believed it wasn’t enough money, however, and that to compete with Google for AI dominance, billions of dollars needed to be raised. Altman said Musk claimed OpenAI would have “a zero percent chance of success” without massive investment, and that phrase is “burned into my memory.” Currently, OpenAI’s for-profit entity is valued at over $800 billion from approximately $175 billion in investment, which includes the value of the nonprofit’s IP that was transferred into the for-profit, in exchange for equity in the for-profit. OpenAI’s nonprofit, OpenAI Foundation, has $200 billion in assets, with Altman claiming it to be one of the “most well-funded nonprofits in the world.” At one point during a 2017 email exchange between Altman and Musk, Altman wrote: “I remain enthusiastic of the nonprofit structure!” Through questioning, Altman said he did not consider that email a formal commitment to Musk to keep OpenAI only as nonprofit. Altman said Musk left OpenAI partly because he and the other co-founders would not allow Musk unilateral control in the company and didn’t agree on how the equity in the for-profit entity should be split. “I was extremely uncomfortable with it,” said Altman about Musk’s condition for control of OpenAI. Altman said a “hair-raising moment” included a conversation between the co-founders asking what would happen in that scenario if Musk died, and Altman testified that Musk answered control of OpenAI should pass to his children. In an email to the co-founders, Altman wrote: “I don’t think any one person should have control of the world’s first AGI, in fact the reason we started OpenAI is so that wouldn’t happen.” “I felt like he abandoned us,” Altman said about Musk leaving OpenAI, claiming Musk “jeopardized the mission.” “I am grateful to Mr. Musk for his early contributions and guidance,” he said. “I want to acknowledge that. I wish he would stop what he is doing here,” Altman said, claiming Musk is now motivated by jealousy and because Musk’s for-profit AI company xAI, which he started in 2023, is a direct competitor of OpenAI. “I have complicated feelings about Elon,” he said. In his 2024 suit, Musk claims Altman and current OpenAI President Greg Brockman deceived him about moving OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity that no longer had a “fiduciary duty to benefit humanity.” Musk, Altman, Brockman and former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever co-founded OpenAI in 2015. Musk acrimoniously left the startup in February 2018. He brings breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment claims and seeks $150 billion in compensatory and punitive damages from OpenAI and Microsoft for betraying its original nonprofit mission. He also claims Microsoft aided and abetted the breach of charitable trust and that the company benefited from his early donations. While Savitt skirted testimony on Altman’s 2023 firing for not being “consistently candid” with OpenAI’s board of directors, Musk’s lead counsel, Steven Molo, got right to the heart of the matter in his first question to Altman. “Are you completely trustworthy?” asked Molo. “I believe so,” Altman answered calmly. “Do you always tell the truth?” asked Molo “I am sure there is some time in my life I have not,” Altman answered. Molo continued to ask Altman pointed questions about his potential conflicts of interest with companies he has invested in and are indirectly a partner with OpenAI, such as his ownership stake in Helion Energy, a fusion energy company. Molo also asked about what good governance means after a condition of Altman’s reinstatement as OpenAI CEO was for the board members to resign and he would get a spot on the new board. “I was very angry and hurt and upset,” Altman said about his ousting. He said the decision to go back to OpenAI was “definitely one of my hardest times of my life.” “I’m sure I could have made a ton of money and had an easier life at Microsoft,” he said. But he wanted to stay at OpenAI, he said, because he believed the company’s mission would transform humanity. Bret Taylor, the current chair of OpenAI’s board of directors, finished his testimony he started on Monday. He mentioned the critical role Microsoft played after Musk left. “I am not sure without Microsoft’s investment, OpenAI would exist as it does today,” he said. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked Taylor if he is paid for his position on OpenAI’s board, and he answered around $200,000 annually. The Barack Obama appointee acknowledged it is Juror Appreciation Week and took a moment before a court recess to thank the jury for its time and commitment to hear the evidence in the case. The nine-person jury also heard from OpenAI board member Zico Kolter, who heads the nonprofit’s safety committee, and watched video testimony from Sam Teller, a Musk insider who was in frequent discussions with OpenAI and Musk about the organization’s for-profit structure during and after Musk’s time at OpenAI. The last day of witness testimony is Wednesday. Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday. Categories /