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Fri, 15 May 2026

Fri, 15 May 2026 Claim, counter-claim and tech's seedy side exposed: Five things we learned in the Musk-Altman trial

As the jury deliberates, this is what we found out during the weeks-long trial with two tech titans at its heart.
1. Altman's non-profit commitment questioned: Musk claims Altman lied to him about his commitment to OpenAI's non-profit status, but witnesses including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella testified they never saw or heard of any such commitment. 2. High-profile witnesses contradict Musk's claims: A parade of high-profile witnesses testified that they had never seen or heard of any evidence of Musk's alleged non-profit commitment, contradicting his central claim in the lawsuit. 3. Altman's trustworthiness questioned: Despite having high-powered supporters on the witness stand, Altman faced questions about his trustworthiness after a New Yorker magazine profile portrayed him as a pathological liar and several former OpenAI board members and executives testified to incidents where he allegedly failed to be forthright. 4. Power struggles and personal relationships revealed: Text messages and testimony revealed power struggles between Musk and Altman, including allegations of Musk offering free Teslas to lowball his co-founders and Altman trying to use a connection to Musk to bolster his own status. 5. The case is not just about Musk vs. Altman: The trial has highlighted the cutthroat nature of Silicon Valley, with witnesses and testimony revealing how power is wielded in the tech industry, including allegations of side payments and personal relationships being used to influence decisions.