Sam Altman · Microsoft · OpenAI · Tesla · Elon Musk · California · TechCrunch AI
While the trial exploring Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI’s other cofounders and Microsoft has covered territory ranging
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OpenAI has also made three arguments in its defense that the jury will weigh: If Musk wins out, it could mean the end of OpenAI as a for-profit company, but it’s not entirely clear what will result.
Key facts
- Musk has suggested that his skepticism of his cofounders grew over time, until in the fall of 2022 he finally decided they had betrayed him when he found out about Microsoft's plans for a new $10
- While the trial exploring Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI’s other cofounders and Microsoft has covered territory ranging from the breakup of the founders in 2018 to Altman’s firing and rehiring
- Ultimately, the OpenAI attorneys emphasize that Musk's formal role in the organization ended in 2018 and his last donations took place in 2020
- Importantly, a forensic accountant hired by OpenAI testified that all of Musk's donations had been used by OpenAI well before the key date of August 5, 2021
Summary
Nine California jurors are now deliberating over the future of OpenAI, the world-leading artificial intelligence lab. While the trial exploring Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI’s other cofounders and Microsoft has covered territory ranging from the breakup of the founders in 2018 to Altman’s firing and rehiring in 2023, the jurors will be considering a set of fairly narrow questions. Breach of charitable trust — essentially, did OpenAI and cofounders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman violate a specific agreement with Musk to use his donations to OpenAI for a specific, charitable purpose and not general use by the non-profit? Unjust enrichment — did the defendants use Musk’s donations to enrich themselves through OpenAI’s for-profit arm, instead of for charitable purposes? Aiding and abetting breach of charitable trust, Did Microsoft, through its interactions with OpenAI, know that Musk had specific conditions on its donations, and play a significant role in causing harm to Musk?