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Technology tycoons Elon Musk and Sam Altman are poised to face off in a high-stakes trial revolving around the alleged betrayal, deceit and unbridled ambition that blurred the bickering billionaires\u2019 once-shared vision for the development of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection, centers on the 2015 birth of ChatGPT maker OpenAI as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.<\/p>\n
The trial\u2019s outcome could sway the balance of power in AI \u2014 breakthrough technology that is increasingly being feared as a potential job killer and an existential threat to humanity\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n
Those perceived risks are among the reasons that Musk, the world\u2019s richest person, cites for filing an August 2024 lawsuit that will now be decided by a jury and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.<\/p>\n
The civil lawsuit accuses Altman, OpenAI\u2019s CEO, and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company\u2019s founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. The lawsuit alleges they shifted into a moneymaking mode behind his back.<\/p>\n
OpenAI has brushed off Musk\u2019s allegations as an unfounded case of sour grapes that\u2019s aimed at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk\u2019s own xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, initially was seeking more than $100 billion in damages.<\/p>\n
But any damages now are likely to be much smaller after a series of pre-trial rulings that went against Musk. Musk has since abandoned a bid for damages for himself and instead is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI\u2019s charitable arm. The money would be paid primarily by OpenAI\u2019s for-profit operations, and Microsoft, which became the company\u2019s biggest investor after Musk cut off his funding.<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s lawsuit also seeks Altman\u2019s ouster from OpenAI\u2019s board. Musk\u2019s decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter falling out between the former allies. Musk says he was responding to deceptive conduct that OpenAI\u2019s board picked up on when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023 before he got his job back days later.<\/p>\n
But the trial also carries risks for Musk, who last month was held liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. Any damaging details about Musk and his business tactics could be particularly hurtful now because his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, plans to go public this summer in an initial public offering that could make him the world\u2019s first trillionaire.<\/p>\n
However it turns out, the trial is expected to provide riveting theater, with contrasting testimony from two of technology\u2019s most influential and polarizing figures in the 54-year-old Musk and the 41-year-old Altman.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,\u201d Gonzalez Rogers said during a court hearing earlier this year while explaining why she believe the case merited a trial. The judge will make the final decision on the case, with the jury serving in an advisory role.<\/p>\n
Musk, whose estimated fortune stands at about $780 billion, has long been hailed as a visionary for his roles creating digital payment pioneer PayPal, electric automaker Tesla and rocket ship maker SpaceX. But he has also provoked backlashes with his social media commentary, unfulfilled promises about Tesla\u2019s self-driving technology and his cost-cutting role last year in President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
Some of Musk\u2019s erratic behavior has been tied to allegations of taking hallucinogenic drugs, but Gonzalez Rogers ruled that he can\u2019t be asked during the trial about his suspected use of ketamine. But the judge is allowing Musk to be questioned about his attendance at the 2017 Burning Man festival in Nevada, a free-wheeling celebration known for widespread drug use. The judge is also allowing Musk to be questioned about his relationship with former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, the mother of several of his children.<\/p>\n
Altman, currently sitting on a roughly $3 billion fortune, didn\u2019t emerge in the public consciousness until the late 2022 release of ChatGPT. The tech boom triggered by that conversational chatbot has led some to liken Altman to a 21st-century version of the nuclear bomb inventor, J. Robert Oppenheimer.<\/p>\n
Although Altman was initially hailed as trailblazer he is now facing blowback amid worries about AI\u2019s potential dangers. Earlier this month, the New Yorker magazine published a profile that painted him as an unscrupulous executive. Days later, a 20-year-old man worried about AI\u2019s effect on humanity was arrested on attempted murder charges after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Altman\u2019s San Francisco home.<\/p>\n
The dueling testimonies of Altman and Musk are expected to open a window into some of the thinking that helped trigger the AI race, as well as the unraveling of their friendship. The kinship was forged in 2015 when they agreed to build AI in a more responsible and safer way than the profit-driven companies controlled by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to evidence submitted ahead of the trial.<\/p>\n
Details of the bitter break between the two men were captured in a February 2023 email exchange that surfaced as part of the evidence leading up to the trial.<\/p>\n
After letting Musk know \u201cyou\u2019re my hero,\u201d Altman tells him: \u201cI am tremendously thankful for everything you\u2019ve done to help \u2014I don\u2019t think OpenAI would have happened without you \u2014 and it really (expletive) hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s response: \u201cI hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n