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Musk's side claims in court: "It's like a souvenir shop selling off a museum's Picasso artwork"
OpenAI: "Musk was aware of the plan to change to a for-profit entity"... MS: "Suddenly raising issues after ChatGPT's success"
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who filed a lawsuit alleging that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, broke his promise of 'non-profit operation' and unjustly profited, claimed that this trial is 'a fight to protect America's culture of philanthropy'.
On the 28th (local time), CEO Musk appeared as the first witness in a lawsuit held at the Oakland Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, dressed in a suit, and claimed, "I came up with the idea, named it (OpenAI), recruited key talent, and taught everything I knew," Reuters and U.S. business channel CNBC reported.
He testified that he conceived the idea of establishing OpenAI after debating AI safety with Google co-founder Larry Page, and wanted to create an open-source alternative to compete with Google.
He, who frequently thinks about AI safety, explained the background behind his conception of OpenAI, stating, "AI can enrich us, or it can kill us all," and "We want to live in a movie like 'Star Trek' created by Gene Roddenberry, not in a movie like James Cameron's 'Terminator' (which features killer robots)."
He also offered a prediction, saying, "My prediction is that AI as smart as humans will emerge next year."
He then emphasized, "I could have started (OpenAI) as a for-profit company, but I chose not to."
He described OpenAI becoming a for-profit company, not adhering to his initial intention of operating as a 'non-profit', as 'plundering', and warned, "If it's okay to plunder a public interest organization, then the entire foundation of American charitable giving will be destroyed."
Stephen Mollo, the lawyer representing Musk, also emphasized in his opening statement that the defendants, including OpenAI CEO Altman and President Greg Brockman, should be held accountable because they stole a charitable organization.
Mollo criticized the OpenAI Foundation, a non-profit organization, for establishing OpenAI Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), which can pursue profit, likening it to a museum opening a souvenir shop, stating, "A souvenir shop cannot plunder a museum and sell off Picasso's works."
Musk's side presented as evidence the fact that OpenAI's founding charter, written in 2015, states that OpenAI seeks to develop 'open technology for the public good' and 'was not established for the private gain of any specific individual.'
On the other hand, William Savitt, the lawyer representing OpenAI, countered that CEO Musk was originally aware of OpenAI's plan to transition to a for-profit entity.
Savitt based his claim on an email sent by Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI director who is also the mother of four of Musk's children, to Sam Teller, who worked for Musk.
The email suggested options such as changing the organizational structure to a PBC that can pursue profit, or dividing it into a general stock company and a non-profit organization.
Savitt claimed, "Musk supported the for-profit entity as long as he maintained control."
He further pointed out that CEO Musk only donated a portion of the funds he initially promised, forcing OpenAI to hastily seek additional funding.
Russell Cohen, the lawyer representing Microsoft (MS), another defendant in this lawsuit, countered that he neither helped nor could have helped with OpenAI's alleged breach of public trust, as claimed by CEO Musk.
Cohen specifically criticized, stating that for five years after MS and OpenAI announced their partnership, CEO Musk made no mention of it, and "only after ChatGPT achieved great success did he establish xAI, a for-profit (competing) company, and suddenly raise issues about MS."
Meanwhile, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over this lawsuit, unusually ordered CEO Musk to refrain from using social media (SNS).
After OpenAI raised an issue regarding CEO Musk's post the previous day, mocking CEO Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman by twisting their names into 'Scam' (fraud) and 'Stockman' (stock guy), Judge Rogers asked CEO Musk to "try to curb your habit of using social media to resolve matters outside of court."
However, he said he was reluctant to issue a 'gag order'.
Accordingly, CEO Musk agreed to minimize his social media activity, and CEO Altman also agreed to participate.
Earlier, Judge Rogers announced that the trial would proceed in two phases: one to determine whether the defendants are liable, and another to decide the remedies, with the first phase expected to conclude by the 21st of next month.
CEO Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman, Brockman, OpenAI, and Microsoft (MS), which funded OpenAI, claiming that he suffered damages when OpenAI broke its promise to operate as a non-profit and became a for-profit company, and that CEO Altman and President Brockman unjustly profited in the process.
In this lawsuit, CEO Musk is demanding the dismissal of CEO Altman and President Brockman and the return of $134 billion (approximately 198 trillion Korean Won) in unjust profits to the OpenAI Foundation, a non-profit organization.
In this trial, CEO Altman, MS CEO Satya Nadella, and former OpenAI director Zilis are also expected to testify.
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