By Kenrick Cai, Deepa Seetharaman and Jonathan Stempel OAKLAND, California, May 14 A trial that may shape the future of OpenAI enters its final stages on Thursday, as lawyers for Elon Musk try to convince a jury to hold the ChatGPT maker’s leaders responsible for transforming…
e nonprofit into a vehicle to enrich themselves. Closing arguments are scheduled in the Oakland, California, federal court in Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman
Musk is suing OpenAI and Altman for breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment, accusing them of “stealing a charity” by straying from OpenAI’s founding mission to build safe AI that would benefit humanity. The world’s richest person said the OpenAI defendants manipulated him into giving $38 million, only to go behind his back by attaching a for-profit business to its original nonprofit, and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors to grow. OpenAI has said the organization is stronger as a for-profit entity, including the nonprofit that is now a shareholder of the corporation, and that Musk simply wanted control.
Musk is seeking about $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, which would be paid to OpenAI’s nonprofit to further its altruistic goals. He also wants Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman removed from their roles. Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.