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Who'd have guessed that things would get ugly as two billionaires go to court to argue about the future of AI? While Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has claimed that the massive wealth and power of Elon Musk and Sam Altman won't get in the way of proceedings, this is already turning into something of a bloodbath with clippable quotes and wild accusations.
While Elon Musk and Sam Altman initially worked together as two of the 11 co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, the former claims the company soon lost sight of its not-for-profit promises and is no longer adhering to its founding charter that was supposed to ensure that AI benefits all of humanity."
Musk stepped away amid a potential conflict of interest when Tesla made moves into the AI space in 2018, but since then, he's been on the assault against OpenAI and Altman in general.
Not content with frequently calling him 'Scam Altman' online, Musk is now seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and its CEO, claiming that it has made ‘wrongful gains’ from this ever-advancing tech.
Despite the trial only just getting underway, leaked messages and diary excerpts have included mentions of rhino ketamine, Musk appearing to brand Amazon's Jeff Bezos as a 'tool', and OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Greg Brockman agonizing over which of the tech moguls should lead the company.
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Speaking about why he didn't create OpenAI as a for-profit business, Musk stood in court and explained: "I could have done that with OpenAI, but I chose not to. I chose something that was for the public benefit."
"I deliberately chose to create this as a non-profit for the public good."
As part of the case, he's vowed to donate any winnings to OpenAI's charitable arm, but also wanks to shake things up and oust Altman as its head. Musk was grilled during cross-examination from OpenAI’s lead attorney, William Savitt, largely referring back to his go-to phrase: “You can’t just steal a charity." Altman is due to take the stand later in the three-week trial, but as he waits to be called forward, it looks like business as usual as he looks to the future of OpenAI.
Posting on X, Altman tried to put fears to bed that the likes of ChatGPT have been built to replace us mere humans. The 41-year-old mused: "We want to build tools to augment and elevate people, not entities to replace them."
Continuing to explain how he sees AI as a force for good, Altman maintains that people will hopefully be busier and more fulfilled than ever because job doomerism is supposedly long-term wrong. Even though Altman admitted that there will be significant disruption as we switch to new jobs, he's looking forward to how jobs of the future will look very different.
i think a lot of people are going to be busier (and hopefully more fulfilled) than ever, and jobs doomerism is likely long-term wrong.
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 1, 2026
though of course there will be disruption/significant transition as we switch to new jobs, the jobs of the future may look v different, etc.
In a third musing, he concluded: "I'm hopeful for a future where people who want to work really hard have incredibly fulfilling things to do, and people who don't want to work hard don't have to and can still have an amazing life of prosperity."
Still, there was immediate backlash against his post. While it's all well and good to live in a dystopian future where people work for fun instead of necessity, not everyone is sold on the idea that AI will pan out that way.
Replying to Altman, one skeptic wrote: "lmao idk who believes these ppl for real...It's all about business and transactions. No one gives a f**k about humans."
A second added: " Easy to tell when PR training kicks in right after the report showing that 80% of Americans hate AI comes out."
A third joked: "That's what a villain would say after he's about to get exposed 🤣."
Others agreed with him, as someone else suggested: "Think AI no doubt will replace some and should. But like any new technology, it creates more than it destroys. That’s the reality of progress."
Another concluded: "This is the framing that actually lands. Nobody wants to be replaced. They want to be capable of more. That's the product."
