Sam Altman to testify in OpenAI vs Elon Musk trial after shocking co-founder testimony

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to testify in the trial against Elon Musk on Tuesday and Wednesday, as confirmed by California court.

The megatrial stems from a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against the company. The legal battle centers on Musk’s allegations that OpenAI founders, Altman and President Greg Brockman, tricked him into providing $38 million worth funding for a non-profit mission. But in reality, the company pivoted towards a for-profit mission with the help of Microsoft funding.

Sam Altman’s testimony in trial, which is in its third week, will prove decisive while determining the future of OpenAI as the company has been raising hundreds of billions of dollars from investors and tech companies. The investment is meant to build more computing power ahead of a potential trillion-dollar IPO.

In this explosive trial, it is expected that the chief will stick to its stance that Musk was aware of the for-profit plans but filed suit because he was denied control of the organization.

The testimony will come after the OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever testified in the court on Monday. Sutskever testified that Altman displayed a "consistent pattern of lying," providing evidence that contributed to previous board friction.

When asked by an attorney of Musk, “You told the board that Altman exhibits a consistent pattern of lying, undermining his execs and pitting his execs [against] one another, right?”

“Yes,” said Sutskever.

According to Sutskever, though he had a role in the firing of Altman, he signed the employee petition to bring Altman back to prevent the company’s total collapse. He admitted that the decision to fire Altman felt rushed.

The former CTO, Mira Murati, also accused Altman of creating chaos and being untrustworthy in her video deposition, highlighting a pattern of manipulative communication.

According to some legal experts, Altman will face intense questioning on the 2019 restructuring plan, moving the company to capped-profit model, and OpenAI’s current path to reach AGI.