Elon Musk testifies in a case that could change the path of AI
Elon Musk testifies in a case that could change the path of AI
https://us.cnn.com/2026/04/28/tech/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai
Publish Date: 2026-04-28 07:00:00
Source Domain: us.cnn.com
Elon Musk on Tuesday testified that his lawsuit against OpenAI and its leaders goes well beyond one company and into the future of a technology that “could also kill us all.”
Musk has accused OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman deceived him and betrayed OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission. His lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is seeking $130 billion in damages from OpenAI and wants the company to return to a nonprofit structure and remove Altman and Brockman from its board.
“I have extreme concerns over AI,” Musk, who has his own AI company, said on the stand in an Oakland, California courtroom. AI can make everyone prosperous but could also lead to dire consequences for humanity, he said.
“We don’t want to have a ‘Terminator’ outcome,” he said.
The trial threatens to derail one of the world’s largest AI companies – and one of Musk’s biggest artificial intelligence rivals – as it makes plans to go public as early as this year. OpenAI has consistently pushed back against Musk’s claims and says his suit is one based on jealousy and regret.
“We are here because Mr. Musk turned out to be very wrong about OpenAI. We’re here now because Mr. Musk now competes with OpenAI,” OpenAI’s lead attorney Bill Savitt said in his opening statement Tuesday. “Because he’s a competitor, Mr. Musk will do anything he can do to attack OpenAI.”
The jury’s verdict will advise Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers as she decides whether Musk gets his wish: reversion of OpenAI to a nonprofit structure, the removal of Altman and Brockman from OpenAI’s board, and around $130 billion in damages to go back into OpenAI’s nonprofit foundation.
Beyond the remedies Musk is demanding, the trial…
