Musk Warns AI Could Wipe Out Humans at OpenAI Trial

Elon Musk told jurors on Tuesday that poorly controlled artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity as he testified in his lawsuit accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of abandoning a nonprofit founding plan.

Musk testified that he helped start OpenAI, recruited key people and provided funding with the expectation the group would operate as a 501(c)(3) charity. He pointed to founding documents that state “no person shall benefit from this charity” and described early discussions about keeping any for-profit arm subordinate to the nonprofit so that the business side would not control the organization.

The lawsuit names OpenAI and Microsoft as defendants. Musk seeks roughly $134 billion in damages, asserting OpenAI removed its profit cap in an October restructuring and later raised $122 billion in a funding round. OpenAI counters that Musk never delivered a promised $1 billion pledge and that he sought control of the organization.

OpenAI’s lead attorney, Bill Savitt, told jurors the dispute centers on control. In his opening statement he argued Musk used a pledge to pressure the founding team and walked away when he could not dictate terms. “We’re here because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI,” Savitt said in court.

Musk testified that the later structural changes and fundraising required deceiving donors, members and the public, a claim laid out in his filings. He warned jurors that poorly controlled AI would be “deadly enough to wipe out humans” and contrasted a hazardous outcome he compared to the film Terminator with a safer future he likened to Star Trek. He also recalled a 2015 conversation in which a tech executive called him a “speciesist” for prioritizing human survival.

Both Musk and Altman were in the courtroom at the start of Tuesday’s session; Altman left before Musk began testifying. Musk is expected to return to the stand Wednesday. Attorneys have signaled the witness list could include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, AI researchers and current and former OpenAI board members.

OpenAI has defended its evolution, saying the 2022 launch of ChatGPT brought global attention and growth that it did not receive at the outset. The company disputes Musk’s account of events and maintains its governance and fundraising decisions were lawful. The case will turn on testimony, documents and how jurors weigh competing accounts of OpenAI’s founding intentions and later decisions.