In court, Elon Musk accuses OpenAI of trying to 'have your cake and eat it, too'

Business In court, Elon Musk accuses OpenAI of trying to 'have your cake and eat it, too' April 29, 20261:30 PM ET John Ruwitch Elon Musk arrives at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP hide caption toggle caption Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Elon Musk, of Tesla, SpaceX and DOGE fame, is testifying in court for a second day on Wednesday in his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, a case that could alter the competitive landscape for artificial intelligence. Business Elon Musk testifies against OpenAI, seeking Sam Altman's ouster The case hinges on whether OpenAI, founded by Musk, Altman and a handful of others in 2015, strayed from its original mission as a non-profit developing AI for the benefit of humanity when a for-profit arm was created to raise funding to supercharge its research. On Tuesday, lawyers for Musk and OpenAI delivered opening statements that painted starkly different pictures. Musk's team argued that Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman "stole a charity" and enriched themselves when they created the for-profit arm of OpenAI that has since ballooned in valuation. Sponsor Message OpenAI's lead lawyer said this is a simple case of sour grapes, with Musk seeking to attack a rival because he is unhappy that OpenAI thrived after he left in 2018 following a disagreement about leadership. He launched his own competing company, xAI, in 2023. The for-profit arm of OpenAI was created to help raise money and attract talent. It is a subsidiary of the not-for-profit OpenAI Foundation. On the stand on Wednesday, under questioning from his own attorney, Musk said establishing a company like OpenAI as a non-profit gave it "the moral high ground. I guess there's sort of a halo effect." Also, he added, "there's some value" in having a lab that develops "digital superintelligence" to be non-profit. "But what you can't do is have your cake and eat it too," reaping the "good association" with being a non...