Elon Musk tried to take control of OpenAI. He even suggested that control should pass to his children after his death. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, testified to this in a federal court on Tuesday. Altman is being sued by Musk, who accuses him of having “looted a charity.” OpenAI started as a non-profit. The trial in Oakland, California is revealing new details about the early power struggles between the two tech leaders.
Musk Wanted Long-Term Control
Altman told the jury that Musk not only supported the idea of OpenAI becoming a for-profit business. He wanted control of it for the long run. Altman recalled a particularly tense moment. “A hair-raising moment was when my cofounders asked, ‘If you have control, what happens when you die?’ He said something like ‘…maybe it should pass to my children.'”
Several Plans to Gain Power
Altman testified that Musk tried several ways to gain more control. He wanted more seats on OpenAI’s board. He wanted to become its CEO. Musk also suggested that OpenAI become a subsidiary of Tesla, his electric vehicle company. The conversations happened after OpenAI was founded in 2015.
Altman said the main goal at the time was getting “more money faster.” Musk felt he should be in charge because of his fame as a business person. Altman recalled Musk saying, “If I make one tweet about this, it’s instantly worth a ton.”
Why Altman Refused
Altman said he and other co-founders decided that handing Musk such control would not help OpenAI’s mission. They were building artificial general intelligence, or AGI. AGI is loosely defined as an AI tool that outperforms humans on most tasks. Altman said, “One of the reasons we started OpenAI was because we didn’t think any one person should be in control of AGI.”
He said he was “extremely uncomfortable” with giving Musk control.
Musk Leaves OpenAI
Musk eventually left OpenAI in early 2018. He stopped his quarterly donations of $5 million to the company. Altman described an email from Musk as “burned into my memory.” In it, Musk said OpenAI “had a zero percent chance, not a one percent chance, of success” without him.
In 2019, OpenAI formed a for-profit subsidiary. Altman offered Musk the option to invest. Musk declined. Altman testified, “He said no because he would no longer invest in any startups he didn’t control.”
What’s at Stake
The trial is about whether Altman and OpenAI violated their non-profit mission by becoming a for-profit company. Musk claims the founders “looted a charity.” The outcome could shape the future of OpenAI and the AI industry.
New testimony reveals deep divisions between two of the most powerful figures in technology. Musk wanted control of OpenAI for himself and even for his children. Altman and his co-founders refused. The fight is now playing out in court. The question at the heart of the case is simple. Should a company building powerful AI be controlled by one person, or by no one at all?
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