AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Court drama between Elon Musk and Sam Altman over OpenAI has continued into a third week. Altman, who is the CEO of OpenAI, gave his testimony today in federal court in Oakland. Rachael Myrow was inside the courtroom following all of this. She is the senior editor of member station KQED's Silicon Valley news desk and joins us from just outside the courthouse. Hi, Rachael.
RACHAEL MYROW, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so as we mentioned, we are in Week 3 now, and it feels like it might be a good time to review. What are the stakes here? Can you just recap that for us real quick?
MYROW: Yes, indeedy. Elon Musk is suing his former colleagues at OpenAI, claiming they stole a charity when they set up a for-profit subsidiary that he argues the nonprofit doesn't really control. He and Sam Altman and a few others co-founded OpenAI back in 2015 explicitly to develop artificial intelligence safely and for the benefit of humanity, not primarily for profit. Musk put in roughly $38 million in charitable donations but left the company in 2018. The for-profit subsidiary the remaining founders built on top of that nonprofit is now valued at approaching a trillion dollars, and the people who run it are billionaires. So Musk's lawsuit claims breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
CHANG: OK. And today, the court finally heard from Sam Altman himself. What did he say?
MYROW: Yes, this is the day we've all been waiting for since Musk left the stand near the beginning of the trial. It was a heartwarming story Altman's attorneys set him up to present of OpenAI's birth. There's agreement on both legal teams, though, that the co-founders all saw themselves in an urgent dash to develop AI as a counterbalance to Google so that AGI, or AI that surpasses human intelligence, would never end up in the hands of just one company. There's also agreement that they all quickly became consumed with the need to raise big money to pay for compute and power and talent. After that, accounts diverge. Altman testified no single person should control AI, and because Musk insisted on control, he wasn't a good fit for OpenAI, and that his departure was even a morale boost for employees distressed at Musk's hardcore approach.
CHANG: Wow, this feud. OK, so naturally, the lawyer for Musk got to cross-examine Altman, right? I'm so curious. What did he ask?
MYROW: Yes. His name is Steven Molo, and he opened with a barrage of questions about Altman's honesty. Are you completely trustworthy? I believe so. Do you always tell the truth? I'm sure there are some times in my life when I did not. You've repeatedly been called a liar by people with whom you've done business. I have heard people say that. Then Molo turned to conflicts of interest and circular business deals with companies like Reddit. Now, that's where investors provide capital to a company which then uses those funds to purchase products or services from the same investors. But here's the thing, Ailsa - they're common in Silicon Valley, especially in AI. Musk engages in them too. And also, both men now run AI companies that face multiple lawsuits alleging direct harm from their products.
CHANG: Yeah. All right, so when are we expecting this weeks-long trial to finally wrap up, you think?
MYROW: Closing arguments are Thursday. The judge has been running a very tight ship. The jury's verdict is only advisory, so Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers makes the final call.
CHANG: That is Rachael Myrow with member station KQED. Thank you so much, Rachael.
MYROW: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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