Elon Musk spent the better part of three days on the witness stand this week in his lawsuit against OpenAI, and the proceedings are already getting messy. Emails, texts, and even Musk’s own tweets are being introduced as evidence in court, with many more witnesses still to come.
Musk’s central argument is that by converting OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit model, Sam Altman betrayed the organization's original mission — a "nonprofit for the benefit of humanity" that Musk had agreed to fund. As Musk has repeatedly reminded the courtroom, "You can’t steal a charity."
This episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast breaks down what’s truly at stake in the courtroom, what to watch for as Altman and others take the stand, and also covers deals, defense tech, and what Big Tech’s earnings week revealed about the limits of the AI spending era.
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