Elon Musk testifies in court claiming OpenAI "stole charity," old emails reveal his team once proposed giving him 55% ownership

CryptoWorld News reports that Elon Musk testified in the lawsuit against OpenAI, saying that OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit model is “like stealing from a charitable organization,” and is seeking $150 billion in damages to revoke its for-profit status. Musk said that if this transition succeeds, it would set a precedent for robbing charitable organizations across the United States. OpenAI is currently valued at about $730 billion. In their opening statements at court, the two sides faced off sharply, with Musk’s lawyer comparing OpenAI to “a museum shop robbing a museum, stealing a Picasso to make a profit.” OpenAI’s lawyer fired back, saying that after Musk left in 2018, he had no objections to Microsoft’s investments until ChatGPT suddenly exploded in popularity, at which point he turned hostile.

Musk acknowledged that he participated in discussions about setting up a for-profit entity, but said the bottom line was that the for-profit portion should be small. He also recounted OpenAI’s origins, saying that Google co-founder Larry Page once referred to him as a “speciesist” in a conversation, which led him to decide to create OpenAI to serve as a counterbalance to Google. Microsoft’s lawyer said that during the period when Musk helped set up the for-profit entity, he continued to donate and never objected, only filing the lawsuit after ChatGPT’s success.