What Elon Musk said while testifying in OpenAI trial
29 Apr 2026

Elon Musk took the stand on Tuesday in the high-profile trial against Sam Altman and OpenAI.

The proceedings were presided over by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in a federal court in Oakland, California.

Musk is suing OpenAI, Altman and Greg Brockman (OpenAI president) for allegedly breaking their promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit organization.

However, OpenAI has dismissed the lawsuit as "baseless."

Musk modifies damages demand to 'ill-gotten gains'
Damage claims

Initially, Musk had claimed damages worth up to $134 billion. However, he has now changed his demand to seeking "all ill-gotten gains" from OpenAI to be donated to OpenAI's non-profit arm.

The trial is centered around the structure, ownership, and mission of OpenAI over the years. After Musk left its board in 2018, OpenAI formed a for-profit subsidiary which he claims was against their original agreement.

Musk testifies on his understanding of OpenAI's structure
Testimony details

Musk was the first witness to take the stand in this trial. He spoke about his upbringing, his many companies, and his understanding of OpenAI's structure.

He said he wasn't against a small for-profit subsidiary but was motivated to start OpenAI as a counterweight to Google after an argument with Google co-founder Larry Page over AI safety concerns.

AI safety is my obsession, says Musk
AI safety

Musk emphasized his commitment to AI safety during his testimony.

He said that the long-term goal of Neuralink was "actually AI safety," and if they could closely tie humans with AI through technology like their brain-computer interface systems, they could achieve better human-AI symbiosis.

He also predicted that "AI will probably be as smart as any human as soon as next year."

Musk presents founding charter of OpenAI from 2015
Founding role

Musk claimed he played a key role in founding OpenAI and wouldn't have contributed his resources if the company's founders intended to profit.

He presented the founding charter of OpenAI from 2015, which stated that it would create "open source technology for the public benefit," and was "not organized for the private gain of any person."

AI could kill us all or make us more prosperous
AI risks

Musk discussed his predictions for the future of AI, saying it could make us more prosperous or kill us all.

He compared training AI to raising children, saying "you can't really control that child, but you can try to instill the right values."

This was part of his broader discussion on the potential benefits and dangers posed by advanced artificial intelligence technologies.