On April 30, according to The New York Times and The VergeMuskAppeals OpenAI The case officially entered the deposition phase at the Federal District Court of Auckland, California, on April 28, local time。
It is noteworthy that just one day before the trial, Mask had published over 20 posts on X, calling Ottman "Scam Altman" (frauder). Prior to the hearing, Judge Yvonne González Rogers summoned Mask to the bench to warn him of his outside words and actions:
"How are we going to move forward with the trial while you're outside?" In the end, both sides agreed to "act with restraint" on social media。
MUSK THEN APPEARED AS THE FIRST WITNESS, IDENTIFIED HIMSELF IN THE WITNESS STAND AS THE "SAVIOR OF MAN" AND GROUPED AI'S FUTURE INTO TWO OUTCOMES: EITHER UTOPIA OF STAR TREK OR ANTI-UTOPIA OF TERMINATOR. HE DIRECTLY CALLS OTTMAN A "THROWER":
It is not right to steal a charity. If the accused were acquitted, that would set a precedent for the plundering of all United States charities。
However, the journalists on the ground in The Verge observed that Mask's testimony was far from as expected. He spent a great deal of time describing his personal business history instead of focusing on the core allegations of the case and describing himself as the real promoter of OpenAI:
I raised the idea, and I named it, and I recruited the core staff and provided full start-up funding. Nothing else。
It stops waiting for laughter, but there's little on the ground. When asked to introduce the former member of the OpenAI board, Heon Zilis, Musque vaguely said, "She's my, uh, chief of staff, and, you know, she's the mother of several children in Musque." And then the laughter came out, and the jury was confused。
In his opening statement, OpenAI lead counsel William Savit gave a very different account: "We are here because Mask did not get what he wanted. My client has the guts to succeed without him, which Mask does not like. I'm sorry
Savitt showed the jury his internal mail in 2017, showing that Mask's staff had taken the initiative to discuss options for granting Mask 551 TP3T equity in the profit sector, and noting that Mask had never contested OpenAI profitability before the ChatGPT had exploded. "This is sour grapes. I'm sorry
The current claim by Mask exceeds $150 billion. If it fails, Ottmann will consolidate control over OpenAI and the company will be able to move forward with the IPO project, estimated at $73 billion. The trial is expected to last four weeks and Mask will continue to be cross-examined today。