Altman Testifies Musk Sought Control of OpenAI and Proposed Tesla Merger

OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 with a central commitment to ensure artificial general intelligence, or AGI, benefits all of humanity and is not controlled by any single individual. After co-founder Elon Musk left the board in 2018, he continued to challenge OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure. Their legal battle has significant implications for corporate governance, fundraising and control of AGI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently testified in court that Musk repeatedly sought long-term control of OpenAI, proposed merging it into Tesla and even arranged for control to pass to his children. Altman said those proposals violated the organization’s founding principles. The two sides are now disputing whether OpenAI has abandoned its public-benefit mission. The testimony did not disclose the dates or financial terms of the proposals.