Elon Musk testifies in OpenAI trial, attacks Sam Altman over charity claim

techApr 30, 202645419

Elon Musk testified Wednesday in the Musk v. Altman trial that he was "a fool" to provide initial funding to OpenAI because he believed the lab would remain a nonprofit. OpenAI attorneys pressed Musk about backing away from financial commitments and introduced 2017 emails showing he sought majority control, withheld funding, and tried to recruit researchers. On the stand, Musk accused Sam Altman of having "stolen a charity" and said he would have sued earlier if he had known the nonprofit had been taken from its founders. The testimony highlights a high-stakes dispute over OpenAI's shift from nonprofit roots to a commercial enterprise and who should control development and funding of advanced AI.

Popehat Aced It All Three Times

@kenwhite.bsky.social

Recording Serious Trouble today. Item: when would I applaud Elon Musk winning a case? When it’s against California’s HOA, the notoriously totalitarian and arrogant California Coastal COmmission, the Trump of California government agencies. /1

21390d ago

Popehat Aced It All Three Times191

/2 The CCC openly said it was going to restrict SpaceX launches at Vandenburg based on Musk’s politics. As we predicted two years ago they’ve lost and been forced into a justifiably humiliating settlement.

Lizard6

RIP your mentions. I suspect a calloused block finger before this is over.

Hayden Field

@haydenfield.bsky.social

I downloaded, read through & analyzed ALL the evidence exhibits in the Musk v. Altman trial so you don't have to — and I'll keep updating it here as the trial progresses. So far, the exhibits include photos, email exchanges, corporate docs & more. Gift link: bit.ly/4cS4ZNI

5091d ago

Jordan Uhl

@jordanuhl.com

An interesting peek inside the courtroom today in the Elon Musk v. Sam Altman/OpenAI trial today:

4491d ago

Lora Kolodny

@lorak.bsky.social

Musk v. Altman trial continues. We're in the court currently listening to William Savitt, lead counsel for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, grilling Musk in a cross-examination... www.cnbc.com/2026/04/29/m... (w/ Ashley Capoot, Kate Rooney & Jeffrey Kopp) @cnbc.com

3091d ago

Forbes

@forbes.com

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk reportedly declared, “Without me, OpenAI wouldn’t exist,” on the witness stand Wednesday as his testimony in his trial against Sam Altman stretches into a second day.

1691d ago

JJDiane 🐝2

Thanks for taking the blame, asshole.

Financial Times

@financialtimes.com

Elon Musk told a jury on Wednesday that he was 'a fool' to provide initial funding for OpenAI, claiming he believed the $850bn ChatGPT maker would remain a non-profit organisation ft.trib.al/URuFTmv

1390d ago

Jim

@jim584.bsky.social

This information was probably also taken by Elon Musk. This is how Trump and the Republicans repaid musk for his $300 million-dollar 2024 political investment.

990d ago

Sam Brunson

@smbrnsn.bsky.social

So Elon is confessing that he didn't meet his fiduciary duties while he was on the board of OpenAI? Because I don't think I'd confess that in court, personally. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/t...

His electric car company, Tesla, was struggling with manufacturing problems. He had a plan to take it private, but he kept angering regulators. SpaceX, his rocket company, was just starting to show momentum. And OpenAI, the nonprofit artificial intelligence lab he was supposed to be involved in, wasn’t getting much of his attention.

“I did not even have the time to attend board meetings,” Mr. Musk said on Wednesday, the second day of his testimony in a trial that pits him against OpenAI, two of its co-founders and the company’s giant partner, Microsoft.

990d ago

John Voelcker

@johnvoelcker.bsky.social

Elon Musk, the CEO of #Tesla, Twitter/X, SpaceX + some other stuff too, was cross-examined by lawyers in the OpenAI v. Microsoft case. During his testimony, Musk said under oath that he has never directed X to tweak the algorithm to boost his account. 🤔 That seems debatable.

489d ago

NBC Bay Area

@nbcbayarea.com

Elon Musk on Thursday sparred with an attorney for OpenAI during his third day of testimony in the contentious trial over the company's pivot from nonprofit status to a for-profit venture valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. nbcbay.com/DElRklu

489d ago

Flipboard Tech Desk

@techdesk.flipboard.social.ap.brid.gy

Social media posts are getting some high-profile names in hot water this week. A post on platform X, appeared to contradict Elon Musk in court yesterday in his case against OpenAI. Meanwhile, former FBI director James Comey has been indicted over an Instagram post involving seashells that the […]

190d ago

Bloomberg Law

@bloomberglaw.com

Elon Musk became visibly irritated on the witness stand Wednesday as an attorney for OpenAI questioned whether the billionaire backed off his financial commitment to the startup in its early years.

290d ago

Kitty.🇨🇦

@kittycanuck.bsky.social

Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Hemorrhoid Miller, The Heritage Foundation, its real, you guys have been SEVERELY compromised. Like a messed up sci-fi horror biopic Truman show type novella. Its looking baaaaaad

490d ago

kvconner.bsky.social

@kvconner.bsky.social

Elon Musk portrayed himself in court this week as a leading advocate for AI safety — in contrast to what he described as the profit-consumed OpenAI that he's suing. By Axios Megan Morrone www.axios.com/2026/04/30/m...

290d ago

AFinRenoFightsBack 🌊2026 🌊

@callyson.bsky.social

What's at stake in the Elon Musk-Sam Altman trial The trial is scheduled to run for four weeks, with a cast of prominent tech executives set to take the stand “'Billionaires versus billionaires,' observed Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers" Here's hoping they both lose: www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

Musk, who now has a rival AI startup, xAI, says the transformation away from nonprofit status was a betrayal. He alleges that Altman and others accepted his money, advice and time under the pretense of creating a public-spirited enterprise only to later allow people to cash in. Musk sued Altman and a long list of other co-defendants in 2024, demanding restitution that he later estimated at $134 billion.

Altman’s side counters that Musk is rewriting history. They argue Musk left OpenAI in a huff in 2018 and never gave the full $1 billion he pledged. They also say Musk agreed with them years ago about the need to convert OpenAI into a for-profit company in order to raise capital — only they say Musk wanted OpenAI for himself and argued for folding it into his automaker, Tesla.

Both sides appear to relish the chance to prove themselves correct.

“Can’t wait to start the trial. The discovery and testimony will blow your mind,” Musk posted in January on X, which he owns.

“Really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months, Christmas in April!” Altman said in February, also on X.

491d ago

2 sources

wired.comHow Elon Musk Squeezed OpenAI: They 'Are Gonna Want to Kill Me’courthousenews.comElon Musk claims Sam Altman 'stole a charity' in OpenAI feud

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Elon Musk testifies in OpenAI trial, attacks Sam Altman over charity claim

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