OpenAI CEO Sam Altman finally took the stand this morning to defend himself against a lawsuit filed by his former co-founder Elon Musk challenging OpenAI’s corporate structure.
Altman was immediately asked what he thought of Musk’s claim that OpenAI’s other founders “stealed from charity” when they formed a for-profit subsidiary to sell products based on the company’s AI models.
“It’s hard to even wrap my head around that frame,” Altman said after a few seconds of silence. “We have created one of the largest charities in the world. It is doing incredible work and will do much more.”
Musk’s lawyers have taken pains to point out that the OpenAI Foundation, which currently has about $200 billion in assets, had no full-time employees until earlier this year. Bret Taylor, Chairman of the OpenAI Board of Directors, testified today that he did so because he was challenged with converting his OpenAI stake into cash. This was achieved through the organization’s most recent restructuring in 2025.
A key question raised by Musk’s lawyers is whether the company’s commitment to safety has lagged as its commercial power has grown. But Altman said Musk’s “specific plans for safety worried me” during a pivotal time in 2017 when the founders were grappling with how to secure funding to power their AI models.
He described a “particularly hair-raising moment” during the debate when he was asked what would happen if Musk died while controlling the fictitious OpenAI for profit. In Altman’s words, Musk said, “Maybe OpenAI should be passed down to my kids.”
Altman said Musk’s focus on early for-profit control gave OpenAI pause because it is committed to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of one person. From his experience running Y Combinator, a popular startup accelerator, Altman knew that “founders who have control typically don’t give it up.”
Altman testified that Musk’s management tactics that may have worked in engineering and manufacturing did not work in OpenAI.
“I don’t think Mr. Musk understands how to run a good lab,” Altman said. “He demoralized some of our most key researchers. He once required Greg and Ilya to compile a list of researchers, list and rank their accomplishments, and then use chainsaws to cut through the pack. This took a huge toll on the culture of the organization for a long time.”
In fact, Altman took on the role of championing the “sweat equity” of fellow co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever. The two were effectively running OpenAI at the time, while Musk and Altman had other jobs.
After the conflict was not resolved, Musk eventually left the OpenAI board and began competing for AI initiatives with Tesla and his own AI startup, xAI. But Altman kept in touch with the mercurial businessman, updating him on OpenAI’s work and seeking funding and advice.
OpenAI’s lawyers pointed out that Musk has been kept up to date and has been asked to participate in investments that his lawsuit now alleges the nonprofit was corrupt.
“Unlike many of my meetings with Musk, this one was a good one,” Altman said in a 2018 discussion of Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI. Here, Musk “had a long conversation while showing memes on his phone.”
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