Altman denies betraying Musk’s mission

Agencies

Oakland

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman on ​Tuesday rejected Elon Musk's claim that he betrayed the ChatGPT maker's founding mission to serve the public good, at a trial that may ‌determine the future of OpenAI and its leadership.

In an August 2024 lawsuit, Musk accused Altman and OpenAI of persuading him into giving $38 million, only to see the nonprofit abandon its mission to benefit humanity and instead become a for-profit corporation.

Testifying in the Oakland, California, federal court, Altman denied Musk's claim that he and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who is also a ​defendant, tried to "steal a charity."

"It feels difficult to even wrap my head around that framing," Altman said. "It does not fit with my concept ​of the words 'stealing a charity' to look at what is happening here."

Altman said he hoped that "as OpenAI continues to do ⁠well, the nonprofit will do even better."

He also rejected any suggestion that OpenAI was actually Musk's startup, and said OpenAI in its early days considered various ​corporate structures, both non-profit and for-profit.

"At the time we had no conception we would someday have profits or revenue," Altman said.

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The ​trial also marks a clash among tech giants with Musk, the world's richest person, portraying himself as a defender of ordinary people from the perils of AI and Silicon Valley titans who care more about money.

It came after OpenAI raised hundreds of billions of dollars from large technology companies and investors to build its computing power, ahead of a potential $1 ​trillion initial public offering.