Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI make their final case in a trial that could shape AI's future

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI made their last arguments Thursday successful the landmark proceedings whose result could signifier the aboriginal of artificial intelligence.

Musk, the world's richest man, was a co-founder of OpenAI, which started successful 2015 and went connected to make ChatGPT. His suit filed successful 2024 accuses OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his apical lawman of betraying a program to support it arsenic a nonprofit and shifting into a moneymaking mode down his back.

The trial’s result could sway the equilibrium of powerfulness successful AI — breakthrough exertion that progressively has raised fears astir its imaginable impacts connected the economy, nine and adjacent humanity's survival. Scrutiny of Altman’s enactment comes astatine a important clip for the institution and its competitors, Musk’s ain AI steadfast and Anthropic, formed by a radical of 7 ex-OpenAI leaders.

All 3 firms are moving toward planned archetypal nationalist offerings that are expected to beryllium among the largest ever. Musk is seeking damages and changes to OpenAI’s concern structure, arsenic good arsenic Altman’s ouster from institution leadership. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI’s IPO plans.

Timing of suit is cardinal question

One of the jury’s tasks is to determine if Musk filed his suit successful time. Much of the grounds has centered connected OpenAI’s aboriginal years aft its founding, but there’s a comparatively abbreviated timeline to allege the claims Musk is making of breach of charitable spot and unjust enrichment.

OpenAI has argued that Musk waited excessively agelong and cannot assertion harms that occurred earlier August 2021.

The justice wrote successful a tribunal filing past period that “if the assemblage finds that Musk failed to record his enactment wrong the statute of limitations, it is highly likely” that she volition “accept that uncovering and nonstop verdict to the defendants.”

If the assemblage decides the suit was filed successful time, it past has to determine if OpenAI had a “charitable trust” that was breached by OpenAI and its executives. Musk's different assertion means jurors indispensable find whether Altman, Greg Brockman — co-founder and president — and OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves astatine Musk's expense.

For Microsoft, a co-defendant successful the trial, the assemblage has to determine whether the institution aided and abetted that breach. Musk invested $38 cardinal successful OpenAI during its archetypal years, and Microsoft became OpenAI's biggest capitalist aft Musk's departure.

Musk lawyer focuses connected Altman's credibility

Altman and Brockman were successful the courtroom Thursday, portion Musk was successful China with President Donald Trump and different salient tech executives.

Musk’s attorney, Steven Molo, told jurors the Tesla CEO was “sorry helium could not beryllium here.”

In his closing arguments, Molo doubled down connected claims of Altman's untrustworthiness, pointing to grounds from witnesses who called the OpenAI CEO a “liar.”

"I confronted Sam Altman with the information that 5 witnesses successful this trial, each radical that he’s known for years and worked with, called him a liar nether oath. Liar’s a precise almighty connection successful a courtroom,” Molo said.

Those 5 radical were Musk and different co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who was OpenAI’s main scientist, arsenic good arsenic OpenAI’s erstwhile main exertion serviceman Mira Murati and 2 ex-board members, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley.

“Sam Altman’s credibility is straight astatine contented successful this case. He’s the defendants' main witness. The defendants perfectly request you to judge Sam Altman. If you cannot spot him, if you don’t judge him, they cannot win. It’s that simple,” Molo said.

Because Musk, Altman and Brockman ne'er signed a declaration that could amusement they had a charitable spot that OpenAI past broke, Musk's broadside has made the lawsuit that jurors should see emails and different connection betwixt them — on with everything from OpenAI's website to property interviews — arsenic constituting specified a trust.

A question of money

In a terse speech portion jurors were retired of the room, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sharply criticized Musk’s lawyer for suggesting to jurors Thursday that Musk wasn’t seeking immoderate wealth successful the lawsuit.

While Musk, earlier the trial, abandoned a bid for damages for himself, helium is inactive seeking an unspecified magnitude of wealth to beryllium paid to money the altruistic efforts of OpenAI’s charitable arm.

Musk is seeking “billions of dollars of disgorgement,” the justice said, ordering Molo to either retract his connection oregon “drop your assertion for billions of dollars.” They aboriginal agreed that the justice would close the connection to jurors.

OpenAI says Musk has nary evidence

Sarah Eddy, a lawyer for OpenAI, said it was Musk who has misrepresented details surrounding OpenAI's nonprofit founding and his consequent falling retired with the different co-founders.

“Mr. Molo says that Sam Altman can’t beryllium trusted,” she said. “Mr. Musk is the 1 whose grounds is contradicted by each different witness.”

As OpenAI has argued passim the trial, Eddy said Musk knew of and supported plans to crook OpenAI into a for-profit institution that would inactive enactment its ngo to payment humanity.

“Mr. Musk, helium has tried to transportation you that his years-ago donations to OpenAI came with circumstantial strings attached, that these strings were beardown capable to past everlastingly to necktie OpenAI up successful knots arsenic it tries to prosecute its mission, and that these strings gave Mr. Musk perpetual rights implicit OpenAI,” Eddy said. "But Mr. Musk has travel obscurity adjacent to making that case.”

She brought up grounds that Musk had discussed his children inheriting power of OpenAI.

“He wanted dominion implicit AGI,” she said, referring to artificial wide intelligence, a word for precocious AI exertion that surpasses humans astatine galore tasks. “That’s wherefore this was specified a precocious stakes conversation. Mr. Musk wanted full control. Maybe, possibly he’d springiness it up implicit time, oregon possibly not. But it was up to him and that was the problem.”

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O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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