Musk Accused of 'Selective Amnesia', Altman of Lying As OpenAI Trial Nears End (reuters.com) 44
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: A lawyer for Elon Musk hammered at the credibility of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Thursday, near the end of a trial over whether to hold the ChatGPT maker and its leaders responsible for allegedly transforming the nonprofit into a vehicle to enrich themselves. OpenAI's lawyers fought back, claiming the world's richest person waited too long to claim OpenAI breached its founding agreement to build safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity, and couldn't claim he was essential to its success. "Mr. Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but not in AI," said William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI. "To succeed in AI, as it turns out, all Mr. Musk can do is come to court."
The claims were made during closing arguments of a trial in the Oakland, California, federal court. [...] In his closing argument, Musk's lawyer Steven Molo told jurors that five witnesses, including Musk, former OpenAI board members and former OpenAI Chief ScientistIlya Sutskever, testified that Altman was a liar. Molo also noted that during cross-examination on Tuesday, Altman did not say yes unequivocally when asked if he was completely trustworthy and did not mislead people in business. "Sam Altman's credibility is directly at issue in this case," Molo said. "If you don't believe him, they cannot win."
Molo accused OpenAI of wrongfully trying to enrich investors and insiders at the nonprofit's expense, and failing to prioritize AI's safety. He also challenged Brockman's goals for the business, citing Brockman'sstatementthat his own OpenAI stake was worth nearly $30 billion. "The arrogance, the lack of sensitivity, the failure to account for just common decency is really, really abhorrent." Musk also accused Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and $10 billion in 2023, of aiding and abetting OpenAI's wrongful conduct. "Microsoft was aware of what OpenAI was doing every step of the way," Molo said.
Sarah Eddy, another lawyer for the OpenAI defendants, accused Musk and his legal team in her closing argument of resorting to "sound bites and irrelevant false accusations." Eddy said by 2017, everyone associated with OpenAI -- including Musk, then still on its board -- knew it needed more money to fulfill its mission than it could raise as a nonprofit. "Mr. Musk wanted to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company that he could control," she said. "But the other founders refused to turn the keys of AGI (artificial general intelligence) over to one person, let alone Elon Musk."She also said if Musk truly believed AI should serve humanity, he would not have pushed to fold OpenAI into his electric car company Tesla, or made his rival xAI a for-profit company.
Musk had a three-year statute of limitations to sue, and OpenAI's lawyers said his August 2024 lawsuit came too late because he knew several years earlier about OpenAI's growth plans. Eddy expressed disbelief that Musk claimed he did not read a four-page term sheet in 2018 discussing OpenAI's plan to seek outside investments. "One of the most sophisticated businessmen in the history of the world" wouldn't have "stuck his head in the sand," Eddy said. Savitt accused Musk of having "selective amnesia." Microsoft's lawyer Russell Cohen said in his closing statement that Microsoft wasn't involved in the key events of the case, and was "a responsible partner at every step." On Monday, the nine-person jury is expected to begin deliberating. The judge and lawyers will also return to court to discuss possible remedies if Musk wins, including how OpenAI should be restructured and what damages might be awarded. If Musk loses, there will be no remedies to consider.
Recap:
OpenAI Trial Wraps Up With 'Jackass' Trophy For Challenging Musk (Day Eleven)
Sam Altman Testifies That Elon Musk Wanted Control of OpenAI (Day Ten)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Testifies In OpenAI Trial (Day Nine)
Sam Altman Had a Bad Day In Court (Day Eight)
Sam Altman's Management Style Comes Under the Microscope At OpenAI Trial (Day Seven)
Brockman Rebuts Musk's Take On Startup's History, Recounts Secret Work For Tesla (Day Six)
OpenAI President Discloses His Stake In the Company Is Worth $30 Billion (Day Five)
Musk Concludes Testimony At OpenAI Trial (Day Four)
Elon Musk Says OpenAI Betrayed Him, Clashes With Company's Attorney (Day Three)
Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google (Day Two)
Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Head To Court (Day One)
The claims were made during closing arguments of a trial in the Oakland, California, federal court. [...] In his closing argument, Musk's lawyer Steven Molo told jurors that five witnesses, including Musk, former OpenAI board members and former OpenAI Chief ScientistIlya Sutskever, testified that Altman was a liar. Molo also noted that during cross-examination on Tuesday, Altman did not say yes unequivocally when asked if he was completely trustworthy and did not mislead people in business. "Sam Altman's credibility is directly at issue in this case," Molo said. "If you don't believe him, they cannot win."
Molo accused OpenAI of wrongfully trying to enrich investors and insiders at the nonprofit's expense, and failing to prioritize AI's safety. He also challenged Brockman's goals for the business, citing Brockman'sstatementthat his own OpenAI stake was worth nearly $30 billion. "The arrogance, the lack of sensitivity, the failure to account for just common decency is really, really abhorrent." Musk also accused Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and $10 billion in 2023, of aiding and abetting OpenAI's wrongful conduct. "Microsoft was aware of what OpenAI was doing every step of the way," Molo said.
Sarah Eddy, another lawyer for the OpenAI defendants, accused Musk and his legal team in her closing argument of resorting to "sound bites and irrelevant false accusations." Eddy said by 2017, everyone associated with OpenAI -- including Musk, then still on its board -- knew it needed more money to fulfill its mission than it could raise as a nonprofit. "Mr. Musk wanted to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company that he could control," she said. "But the other founders refused to turn the keys of AGI (artificial general intelligence) over to one person, let alone Elon Musk."She also said if Musk truly believed AI should serve humanity, he would not have pushed to fold OpenAI into his electric car company Tesla, or made his rival xAI a for-profit company.
Musk had a three-year statute of limitations to sue, and OpenAI's lawyers said his August 2024 lawsuit came too late because he knew several years earlier about OpenAI's growth plans. Eddy expressed disbelief that Musk claimed he did not read a four-page term sheet in 2018 discussing OpenAI's plan to seek outside investments. "One of the most sophisticated businessmen in the history of the world" wouldn't have "stuck his head in the sand," Eddy said. Savitt accused Musk of having "selective amnesia." Microsoft's lawyer Russell Cohen said in his closing statement that Microsoft wasn't involved in the key events of the case, and was "a responsible partner at every step." On Monday, the nine-person jury is expected to begin deliberating. The judge and lawyers will also return to court to discuss possible remedies if Musk wins, including how OpenAI should be restructured and what damages might be awarded. If Musk loses, there will be no remedies to consider.
Recap:
OpenAI Trial Wraps Up With 'Jackass' Trophy For Challenging Musk (Day Eleven)
Sam Altman Testifies That Elon Musk Wanted Control of OpenAI (Day Ten)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Testifies In OpenAI Trial (Day Nine)
Sam Altman Had a Bad Day In Court (Day Eight)
Sam Altman's Management Style Comes Under the Microscope At OpenAI Trial (Day Seven)
Brockman Rebuts Musk's Take On Startup's History, Recounts Secret Work For Tesla (Day Six)
OpenAI President Discloses His Stake In the Company Is Worth $30 Billion (Day Five)
Musk Concludes Testimony At OpenAI Trial (Day Four)
Elon Musk Says OpenAI Betrayed Him, Clashes With Company's Attorney (Day Three)
Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google (Day Two)
Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Head To Court (Day One)
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Since about the mid 2010's trolls have been winning too often. Cults based on morons are forming. Morongeddon.
Not more Cats hate Dogs reporting (Score:2)
It is not news when an attorney for Person X is attacking the opposing person in court.
That is what the attorney is paid to do.
News reports treating readers like 3 year olds with the "Sally was mad at Susan on the playground and said big bad words" reporting.
Difficult task (Score:5, Insightful)
Difficult task for the jury.
Question of fact: "Which of these two self-serving bastards is a lying snake?"
Verdict: "Yes."
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I guess entertaining villains are better than boring villains.
insert Norm MacDonald quote (Score:3)
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Why don't you just propose burning the corporate facilities and the farms of people who don't eagerly comply, too?
The result is the same.
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his suggestion is wildly excessive; your comment is patently ridiculous
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dial it down; you're way too extreme in your thinking
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Musk founded a non-profit and fully open AI first, remember? Altman and friends hit a point where they felt they had something powerful and decided to keep it closed rather than open it. That's really the end of the discussion to be honest. That he later founded a competing AI [with the openly discussed and disclosed purpose of making sure an ethically responsible AI existed] and it would benefit somehow from suing OpenAI is an irrelevant distraction.
Re: Difficult task (Score:3)
In other news (Score:3)
Assholes (Score:1)
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What are you, a commiebot? You're spamming multiple threads with this nonsense.
Can Altman or Musk prove they are really human? (Score:3)
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Why would IPO investors give equity? (Score:2)
I understand that Sam&co expect a high percentage of equity to be evenly divided per profit share and Sam just getting some as a signing bonus, but what is in it for the investors to give it to them? Unless there is a huge vesting period a lot of them will take early retirement and they have no legal right to equity, just the expectation.
Sam has an under the table agreement to threaten to walk if they don't hand out tons of equity?
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I should have asked why the OpenAI non profit would give those people equity instead, they are probably making the decision. Still, it's a bit of a handout. If they were just given profit shares in the public company they would almost certainly be worth far less.
In Musk and Altman? No! But... (Score:2)
,,, we accept selective amnesia in our politicians every single day. Every time they show a public face. In all political parties. We know it and ignore it. Bit of a double standard to call it out here.
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Only if you say it's OK elsewhere.
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This is a trial. Standards for testifying in trials are indeed different than shooting your mouth off on TV. They even do the whole swearing to tell the truth thing, and you can go to jail if you don't.
Hammered? (Score:2)
A lawyer for Elon Musk hammered at the credibility of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Thursday ...
Hammering something so squishy as Altman's credibility seems inefficient to me. Maybe a shovel would be more effective?
Thunderdome (Score:2)
Two AI enter, one AI leaves. This should be settled in Thunderdome. Did you assume I meant ChatGPT and xAI battle, no, I meant the two AI droids Musk and Altman!
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It would be interesting to see if Altman or Musk have the higher MMLU.
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So many really wanted the Musk vs. Zuck cage match. Too late? Is there a "both lose" betting category?
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Apart from his "kung fu" sessions with Ghislaine, Musk has no training & no chance
That explains it... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Is selective amnesia one of the symptoms of ketamine abuse?
to paraphrase Hanlon's razor, "never attribute to intoxicants that which is adequately explained by assholery"
Musk needs AI! (Score:4, Funny)
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Even if he finishes it it will never be correct because he can't acknowledge his daughter's gender.
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It will have a "Bible Mode" to toggle between definitions.
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Can we just shoot them both into the sun and be done with it?
put them both on a Starship to Mars that's guided entirely by OpenAI