Elon Musk's legal battle against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, entered its second day as the Tesla CEO took the stand. Testifying before a nine-person jury, Musk highlighted his long-standing concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence. He stated that he founded OpenAI to keep AI away from 'the bad guys.' The billionaire further revealed that he personally warned former US President Barack Obama about the dangers of AI during a one-on-one meeting in 2015. Musk said he 'spent an hour' warning Obama about AI risks, which 'no one was really using' at the time. However, Obama felt that AI was not advanced enough to seem frighteningly smart, Musk noted.
Musk's Concerns About Google and AI Safety
'I thought it was extremely important to have a counterbalance to Google,' Musk said about co-founding OpenAI. 'Google did not seem to care about AI safety at that time,' he stated. Musk's remarks come amid growing concerns about artificial intelligence among US leaders. Senator Bernie Sanders has expressed fear about AI, calling it 'the most consequential technology in the history of humanity' that will 'transform' the US and the world. Musk's reference to his earlier warning to Obama highlights how concerns about AI risks have been raised for years.
Elon Musk's Testimony Against OpenAI
Musk opened his testimony against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by recounting his background. He described how, after being raised in South Africa, he came to Canada for college with '$2,500 in Canadian travelers' checks and a bag of clothes and books.' From there, he moved to the US, working from Zip2 to PayPal to his current slate of companies. His main argument is that OpenAI abandoned its founding principles, a precedent that could reshape both AI governance and charitable trust. He emphasized OpenAI's original goal: AI for the good of humanity, not profit-driven control. Musk believed that in the early days, OpenAI's corporate structure would be a nonprofit funded initially with donations, but there could potentially be a parallel for-profit entity owned by the nonprofit to fund it. 'We (Sam Altman and Elon) were in agreement that OpenAI would be a 501c3 charity,' Musk stated.
