Elon Musk's Lawyers Question OpenAI President's $30 Billion Valuation at Federal Trial

Elon Musk’s Lawyers Question OpenAI President’s $30 Billion Valuation at Federal Trial

Elon Musk’s legal team questioned OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman during a federal trial, implying he was “driven by greed rather than building safe A.I.,” according to the New York Times. The questioning centered on why Brockman is worth $30 billion.

According to TechCrunch, two days before the trial began, Musk texted Brockman suggesting OpenAI settle the suit. When Brockman replied by suggesting both sides drop their suits, Musk responded: “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be,” according to a court filing.

Musk’s attorneys argue that OpenAI “was set up as a charity focused on AI safety and lost its way in pursuit of lucre,” according to TechCrunch. To support this claim, they cite old emails and statements from the organization’s founders about the need for a public-spirited counterweight to Google DeepMind.

The trial featured testimony from Stuart Russell, a University of California, Berkeley computer science professor and Musk’s only expert witness on AI technology. According to TechCrunch, Russell told jurors there were “a variety of risks associated with the development of AI” and “a tension between the pursuit of AGI and safety.” However, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers limited Russell’s testimony after objections from OpenAI’s attorneys.