Altman testifies in Oakland: Musk told OpenAI leaders 'you had no chance'

Sam Altman used his testimony in federal court in Oakland, California, on May 12 to describe a sharp break with Elon Musk after Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018. Altman told jurors Musk said OpenAI had “no chance” and was unlikely to matter against DeepMind or Google, according to CNBC’s account of the testimony. Musk’s lawsuit, filed in 2024, accuses OpenAI, Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of abandoning the nonprofit mission Musk says he backed when he helped found the lab in 2015. The case is being heard in the U.S. District Court in Oakland before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, and CourtListener shows the docket was updated on May 13. (cnbc.com) Altman’s testimony matters because it goes to one of the central factual fights in the case: whether OpenAI’s later shift toward a for-profit structure was a betrayal of an original promise, or a move made after Musk had already pulled back from the organization. CNBC reported that Altman told the jury he never made Musk commitments about preserving a specific corporate structure. (courtlistener.com) ### What exactly did Altman say Musk told OpenAI in 2018? Altman testified on May 12 that Musk told OpenAI leaders they had “no chance” after he departed the board in 2018, CNBC reported from the courtroom. Altman also said Musk told company leaders the nonprofit had been “left for dead” and would not be relevant to DeepMind or Google. (cnbc.com) Those remarks fit into Altman’s broader account that Musk withdrew support at a moment when OpenAI was still trying to define how it would fund expensive AI research. CNBC said Altman testified for roughly four hours and described Musk’s departure as a “morale boost” for some employees, adding that Musk’s management style had “demotivated” some researchers. (cnbc.com) ### Why is that testimony important to Musk’s claims? Musk’s legal theory is that OpenAI’s leaders took a nonprofit he helped launch and used it for commercial gain. CNBC reported that Musk has alleged the defendants went back on a vow to keep OpenAI nonprofit-focused and that the roughly $38 million he donated was used for unauthorized commercial purposes. (cnbc.com) Altman’s testimony pushes back on that narrative by disputing that any binding promise about corporate form was made to Musk. CNBC reported that Altman told jurors he did not make commitments to Musk about OpenAI’s structure, while Musk has argued he was not opposed to a limited for-profit arm so long as it did not control the organization. (cnbc.com) ### How does this fit with what other witnesses have said? Satya Nadella testified on May 11 that Musk never raised concerns with him about Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI violating any special commitments, according to CNBC. Microsoft is a defendant in the case because Musk accuses it of aiding and abetting OpenAI’s alleged breach of charitable trust. (cnbc.com) Shivon Zilis testified on May 7 that OpenAI’s structure was debated “ad nauseam,” including multiple for-profit options, CNBC reported. That testimony, like Altman’s, goes to whether OpenAI’s later structure was a hidden departure or something discussed internally before Musk left. Greg Brockman also testified during the trial’s second week, as OpenAI sought to rebut Musk’s account of the company’s history. (cnbc.com) CNBC separately reported that Musk had texted Brockman about a possible settlement two days before trial began. ### Where does the case stand now? The trial began with jury selection on April 27 in Oakland, and CNBC reported a nine-person jury was seated before opening arguments. (cnbc.com) Musk testified over several days in late April, Nadella took the stand on May 11, and Altman testified on May 12. CourtListener lists the case as Musk v. (cnbc.com) Altman, No. 4:24-cv-04722, in the Northern District of California. As of the May 13 docket update, Judge Gonzalez Rogers remained the presiding judge for the Oakland proceedings. The next developments are likely to come through further witness testimony, motions or docket entries in Musk v. (cnbc.com) Altman in the Northern District of California. CNBC has been publishing day-by-day courtroom reports, and CourtListener is tracking filings and updates in the case record. (courtlistener.com)