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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testifies in OpenAI trial
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OAKLAND, Calif., Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the witness stand Monday in a trial about control of the artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, making him the third tech billionaire to testify in the closely watched lawsuit in as many weeks.
Key facts
- In 2019, Microsoft agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI’s for-profit arm and provide cloud computing services in exchange for rights to a share of profits and an exclusive license to commercialize
- Musk sued in 2024, saying his past donations to OpenAI totaling $38 million gave him a special interest in seeing that it remained a nonprofit research center
- A fourth billionaire, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, took the witness stand later Monday and said his stake in OpenAI’s for-profit arm is worth about $7 billion
- Nadella became Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer
Summary
Nadella testified after appearances by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and a co-founder of OpenAI, and Greg Brockman, the president and a co-founder of OpenAI. A fourth billionaire, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, took the witness stand later Monday and said his stake in OpenAI’s for-profit arm is worth about $7 billion. The lawsuit centers on Musk’s claims that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has strayed from its original mission as a nonprofit research center. Altman and Brockman say OpenAI is still controlled by a nonprofit foundation, despite having a for-profit arm with outside investors.