Sam Altman testifies he is 'honest and trustworthy' as Elon Musk's lawsuit seeks his ouster from OpenAI leadership

Altman took the witness stand Tuesday in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, to defend his business record against Musk's civil lawsuit accusing him of betraying OpenAI's founding vision. Musk is seeking Altman's ouster and an unspecified amount of money to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI's charitable arm.

The lawsuit alleges that Altman and Greg Brockman shifted OpenAI from its original nonprofit mission into a moneymaking venture, now valued at $852 billion. Altman testified he had concerns about Musk's attempts to gain controlling stake in the startup, saying 'Part of the reason we started OpenAI is we didn't think AGI could be under the control of any one person.'

Trial testimony has revealed Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder, wrote a 2023 memo characterizing Altman as exhibiting a 'consistent pattern of lying,' though Sutskever later signed a letter supporting Altman's reinstatement. Altman said he felt Musk 'abandoned us' as Musk pulled away financial contributions and pursued a competing AI startup.