Closing Arguments Delivered in Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI
Elon Musk's attorney questioned Sam Altman's trustworthiness during closing arguments Thursday while OpenAI's lawyer said Musk's testimony was contradicted by witnesses. Musk, who left OpenAI's board in 2018 and donated $38 million early on, seeks $150 billion in damages and an order unwinding the company's for-profit status.
New York PostClosing arguments in the Elon Musk vs. OpenAI trial occurred on Thursday in federal court in Oakland, California. Musk's lead attorney Steven Molo delivered closing arguments questioning the trustworthiness of Sam Altman.
He used a bridge-over-gorge analogy, stating that the bridge is built on "Sam Altman’s version of the truth" and asked if jurors would walk across it. Molo told the jury that if they cannot trust Sam Altman, then OpenAI cannot win. " Molo stated regarding Sam Altman's trustworthiness answer.
Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Joshua Achiam sat together during the closing arguments. Joshua Achiam testified the previous day that Elon Musk called him a "jackass" at a company-wide meeting years ago.
"All these witnesses say the same thing. No one made a commitment to Mr.
Musk. He does not have a charitable trust to enforce," Sarah Eddy stated. Eddy argued there were no conditions on Musk’s charitable contributions in OpenAI’s early years. Elon Musk donated $38 million to OpenAI years before launching xAI.
Musk is seeking about $150 billion in damages and a court order unwinding OpenAI’s for-profit status. The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Shivon Zillis, Ilya Sutskever, and Satya Nadella. Sam Altman was ousted from OpenAI for days in 2023.
The majority of OpenAI’s employees signed a letter demanding Sam Altman’s reinstatement in 2023, Sarah Eddy said. Microsoft’s lead counsel Russell Cohen recapped Microsoft’s defense against Musk’s allegations during closing arguments. " US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rebuked Elon Musk and Sam Altman over their social media posts about each other.
