OAKLAND, United States: Sam Altman testified that Elon Musk repeatedly attempted to gain control of OpenAI during its early years, telling a California court that the billionaire once demanded as much as 90% ownership in the artificial intelligence company.
Altman appeared in federal court in Oakland as part of Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI over its transformation from a non-profit research organisation into one of the world’s most valuable AI companies.
According to Altman, Musk pushed aggressively for majority control while OpenAI’s founders were discussing the creation of a for-profit subsidiary in 2017.
“An early number that Mr Musk threw out was that he should have 90 percent of the equity to start,” Altman told jurors.
“It then softened, but it always was a majority,” he added.
Original mission
Musk, who helped found OpenAI in 2015, claims the company abandoned its original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity after attracting billions of dollars in investment from companies including Microsoft.
OpenAI argues the shift was necessary to compete in the rapidly expanding AI industry and says Musk left the company after failing to secure long-term control.
Altman also told the court that Musk warned OpenAI would fail without him after disagreements over control of the company.
“The thing that burned into my memory is when he told us we had a zero percent chance of success,” Altman said.
The closely watched trial has highlighted tensions among some of Silicon Valley’s most influential technology figures and exposed the enormous financial stakes surrounding the global AI race.
An advisory jury is expected to deliver its opinion later this month.
