Elon Musk returned to a California federal court for a second day of testimony in his legal battle to dismantle OpenAI, only to have his own social media posts used against him. Under oath, Musk admitted that Tesla is not currently pursuing artificial general intelligence (AGI), directly contradicting a tweet he posted just weeks ago.
The lawsuit, which Musk filed against OpenAI, alleges that co-founders Sam Altman and others tricked him into backing what was supposed to be a non-profit venture. Musk claims they later launched a for-profit arm that effectively took over the organization, betraying the original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
During cross-examination, OpenAI's attorney William Savitt pressed Musk on his shifting positions, highlighting that Musk himself had explored converting OpenAI to a for-profit structure as early as 2016. Savitt presented evidence that Musk even considered folding the AI lab into Tesla to secure necessary funding to compete with tech giants like Google.
The trial now hinges on whether the jury and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers see a meaningful distinction between investors having their potential profit capped versus full for-profit status. Musk described OpenAI's current structure as "looting the nonprofit," while Savitt argued that Musk was fully aware of—and even supported—the move toward commercialization.
As the case unfolds, the court is scrutinizing the fine print of OpenAI's founding agreements and the degree to which Musk's own statements align with his legal claims.