OpenAI's Sam Altman testifies in Elon Musk lawsuit as Republican lawmakers scrutinize his personal investments ahead of planned IPO

Sam Altman took the stand Tuesday in a trial brought by Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI and has accused the AI startup of betraying its original nonprofit mission. Musk has sought to portray Altman as deeply untrustworthy.

Republican lawmakers are probing Altman's personal investments ahead of OpenAI's planned IPO, following a Wall Street Journal report that he sought to have OpenAI back companies in which he also personally invested.

A tech policy expert noted the scrutiny is 'a little bit unfortunate for the AI industry at a time when the public perception of AI is quite negative.'