Sam Altman · OpenAI · SpaceX · Circle · Tesla · China · NBC News Tech
Musk’s attorney apologizes for his absence at trial during closing arguments
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◎ Multiple-sources
OAKLAND, Calif., A lawyer for tech billionaire Elon Musk apologized to jurors on Thursday for his client’s absence from the courtroom and asked them not to read too much into it, as closing statements began in Musk’s lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.
Key facts
- If you go and rob a bank and you take $1 million from the bank, it’s not a defense to say, ‘I left $100 million in the bank,’” Molo said
- He also attacked Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman for getting rich off the organization, noting in particular Brockman’s nearly $30 billion stake and Altman’s investments in companies
- In Beijing, Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said that talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping had been “ awesome
- Has anyone heard of a bank robbery where the bank robbers invented the bank, created $200 billion of value and put all the money into the bank?” Savitt said
Summary
“He’s sorry that he could not be here, but I think you saw from his testimony that this is something that he’s passionate about,” said the lawyer, Steven Molo. As a three-week blockbuster federal trial neared its end, Musk was half a world away in China, joining President Donald Trump and other U.S. business executives on an official state visit. In Beijing, Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said that talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping had been “ awesome.” Musk’s lawsuit centers on OpenAI’s decision to create a for-profit arm with outside investors to pay for the researchers and computing power that fuel its research and its signature app, ChatGPT.