Musk Questioned Over Profits as OpenAI Legal Battle Heats Up

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk faced intense cross-examination on Friday as the legal battle over the future and founding mission of OpenAI continued in court.

The Tesla CEO, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, is currently in a high-profile lawsuit against the artificial intelligence firm and its Chief Executive, Sam Altman. Musk alleges that the company abandoned its original nonprofit mission to benefit humanity in favour of a commercial partnership with Microsoft.

During the proceedings, defence attorneys questioned. Musk on the organisation’s financial structure and the necessity of its capped profit model to sustain the massive computing costs required for AI development. The defence suggested that the billionaire’s legal challenge stems from a loss of influence over the company rather than a breach of contract.

In his testimony, Musk maintained that the organisation was intended to serve as an open-source counterweight to tech giants like Google. He argued that the current profit-driven trajectory undermines the safety and ethical guardrails originally envisioned by the founding team.

Internal communications presented during the trial revealed long-standing friction over funding and the shift toward commercialisation.