OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — In the conflicting trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, neither tech giant appeared to be overly sympathetic. But no one has suffered more than Altman, who is expected to appear in court this week to defend himself.
Testimonies about Altman’s tumultuous tenure at the maker of ChatGPT have become prime fodder for online jokes. One piece of evidence that inspired countless memes was a 2023 text message exchange between Altman and company executive Mira Murati before he was briefly ousted as CEO, in which Altman asked if things were “going in a good or bad direction,” to which she responded: “Sam, this is very bad.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, is seeking Altman to be ousted from the company’s leadership for a second time as part of a civil lawsuit accusing him of betraying their shared vision for OpenAI. Open AI began as a non-profit organization funded primarily by Musk and has grown into a capital enterprise with a current valuation of $852 billion.
Even if Musk loses, the trial will trigger further scrutiny of Altman’s leadership at a critical time for the company and competition with Musk’s own artificial intelligence company and another competitor, Anthropic, a team of seven former OpenAI leaders. All three companies are planning initial public offerings that are expected to be the largest ever.
The jury, which has already drawn a parade of Ultraman’s former allies and rivals into his character, will ultimately reach a verdict. But its impact could be widespread.
“It’s not a good thing for any of them, and I think it’s a little bit unfortunate for the AI industry because the public perception of AI is pretty negative and it seems to be getting worse,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Technology Policy Institute.
Musk warns Altman will become one of America’s ‘most hated’ people
The lawsuit accuses Altman and his top lieutenant, Gregg Brockman, of betraying Musk and straying from the San Francisco company’s founding mission to be selfless stewards of revolutionary technology. They went into money-making mode behind his back, the lawsuit alleges.
Shortly before the trial began, Musk dropped his claim for compensation and instead sought an undisclosed sum to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI’s charitable arm. In a text exchange with Brockman proposing a possible settlement, Musk warned that Brockman and Altman “will become the most hated people in America” as a result of the outcome of the trial.
While Musk, the head of SpaceX, Tesla and many other companies, was well known to Bay Area jurors, few knew who Altman was before the trial began, even if they were familiar with ChatGPT.
The trial has been held in federal court in Oakland, Calif., for the past two weeks, with jurors hearing testimony from witnesses including former OpenAI board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, who spoke about the decision to fire Altman in 2023 before being ousted themselves from the board when Altman returned to the board.
In video testimony last week, Toner said he decided to oust Altman when OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, a respected artificial intelligence scientist, came forward to share some of his concerns.
“One of the phrases we use is ‘a pattern of behavior,’ so there’s no single cause,” Toner said. “His pattern of behavior is related to his honesty and candor and his resistance to board oversight.”
Suzkweil played a major role in the failed attempt to overthrow Ultraman, but later stated that he regretted his role in the shake-up. Sutskever confirmed in testimony Monday that he wrote a 2023 memo to the OpenAI board that described Altman as pitting his executives against each other and exhibiting a “consistent pattern of lies,” resulting in a loss of trust and productivity.
Suzkowir said Altman’s actions created an environment “unconducive” to the company’s goals, including its mission to safely build general artificial intelligence. He said he later walked back and supported Altman’s reinstatement because he was worried about what would happen to the company he worked hard to create and “cares deeply about.”
“I felt like if I didn’t do this, the company would be destroyed, and I felt like it was a Hail Mary,” he testified.
OpenAI starts to show its side
The test also poses risks for Musk, who is seeking an initial public offering this summer for his rocket ship maker SpaceX that could make him the world’s first trillionaire. Witnesses included former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, who served as a conduit between Musk and OpenAI leaders, but also did not disclose that Musk was the father of her two twin sons, according to trial testimony.
It wasn’t until midday on Monday, the third week of the trial, that OpenAI began calling its own witnesses, starting with Bret Taylor, the current chairman of OpenAI’s board of directors, who painted a more positive picture of Altman’s leadership.
“I think Sam has done a great job as CEO,” Taylor said. “He was very forthright with me and other board members.”
Shubha Ghosh, a professor at Syracuse University and an expert in business and technology law, said that regardless of the outcome of the case, he has doubts about Altman remaining as OpenAI CEO in the long term.
“A lot will probably depend on the testimony,” he said. “I don’t know what he’s going to say, and I don’t know how he’s going to say it. But even like the best case, a movie theater-style show, all the music playing, angels are coming and stuff like that, I don’t think he’s a pretty strong leader, especially (because) this case has gotten to this point.”
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O’Brien is from Providence, Rhode Island.
