Musk Testifies Altman 'Stole a Charity' in OpenAI Trial
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- Elon Musk testified on April 28, 2026 in his lawsuit against OpenAI and co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, telling jurors "it is not okay to steal a charity" and that OpenAI's pivot sets a concerning precedent for philanthropic efforts
- Musk's attorney argued Altman "made a mockery of OpenAI's public mission," framing the case around OpenAI's founding as a nonprofit created to counter Google's AI dominance
- Wired highlighted Musk's separate claim that he started OpenAI to prevent a "Terminator Outcome" from superintelligent AI, and that he warned President Obama about AI risks
- The Verge observed Musk "appeared more petty than prepared" on the stand — a critical assessment largely absent from the wire-service coverage of the trial's opening
- Gizmodo flagged the irony of "one of the world's least charitable billionaires" positioning himself in court as the defender of charitable giving
- The Atlantic characterized the dispute as "The Richest Grudge Match in History," capturing the personal animosity between Musk and Altman that drives the case
Why it matters: The trial puts OpenAI's pivot from nonprofit to commercial powerhouse under judicial scrutiny, with Musk personally naming Altman and Brockman as defendants — not just the corporate entity. The case targets the founders' fiduciary duty to the original charitable mission, with Musk framing OpenAI's restructured governance as a betrayal of its Google-counter founding purpose.
