Musk Pressures OpenAI: 'They Would Want to Kill Me'

Day Three of the Trial: Tensions Run High

The Musk v. Altman case reached its most intense confrontation on the third day of the trial. OpenAI's legal team cross-examined Musk, attempting to dismantle the Tesla CEO's series of allegations against OpenAI. According to courtroom reports, Musk stated during his testimony that "they would want to kill me," suggesting he could face retaliation for publicly pressuring OpenAI. The courtroom atmosphere immediately became charged.

At the heart of this lawsuit is Musk's allegation that OpenAI has abandoned its original mission as a nonprofit organization dedicated to open-source development and benefiting all of humanity, instead pursuing commercial interests and establishing a deeply intertwined business relationship with Microsoft.

Key Clashes During Cross-Examination

During the cross-examination, OpenAI's legal team was clearly well-prepared. They presented Musk with a trove of historical emails and documents, attempting to prove that Musk was actually aware of — and even supportive of — OpenAI's plans to transition into a for-profit entity in its early years.

The lawyers questioned Musk's motives, suggesting that he filed the lawsuit not out of concern for AI safety or public interest, but because he had fallen behind OpenAI in the AI race and hoped to use legal means to curb a competitor's growth. Musk's company xAI is developing its own large language model, Grok, which directly competes with OpenAI's GPT series.

Musk held firm in his position, emphasizing that OpenAI's transformation from an open nonprofit into a closed commercial giant violated the original intent behind his substantial financial contributions to the organization. His statement that "they would want to kill me" served both to position himself as a whistleblower and to garner public sympathy.

The AI Industry Power Struggle Behind the Lawsuit

This lawsuit goes far beyond a personal feud between two tech titans — it reflects the deepest structural tensions in the current AI industry.

The Tension Between Nonprofit and Commercialization: OpenAI's transformation is a microcosm of the entire AI industry. The computational costs required to train frontier large models can easily reach billions of dollars, making a purely nonprofit model nearly impossible to sustain such funding demands. But does commercialization necessarily mean abandoning commitments to openness and transparency? There is still no clear answer to this question.

The Intertwining of AI Safety and Commercial Competition: Musk has long appeared in the public eye as an AI safety advocate, but he is also one of OpenAI's most direct commercial competitors. This dual identity complicates his litigation motives and makes it difficult for outsiders to judge whether he is defending public interest or engaging in commercial competition.

Institutional Gaps in Industry Governance: This lawsuit has exposed enormous gaps in AI industry governance. When an organization possessing the most powerful AI technology transitions from nonprofit to for-profit, does the existing legal framework have sufficient tools to constrain and regulate it? The court's final ruling could set an important precedent for the entire industry.

Reactions and Public Opinion

The tech industry is paying extremely close attention to this lawsuit. Those who support Musk argue that OpenAI has indeed strayed from its founding mission, and that its partnership with Microsoft — worth tens of billions of dollars — has effectively turned it into a commercial company, yet it still enjoys certain privileges and public trust associated with nonprofit status.

Those who support OpenAI point out that Musk only began questioning the organization's direction after leaving OpenAI's board in 2018, and that his founding of xAI demonstrates his true aim of weakening a competitor. Furthermore, they argue that OpenAI's commercial transition has enabled it to continue investing in frontier research, with society as a whole remaining the ultimate beneficiary.

Outlook: The Verdict Will Shape the AI Industry's Future

The trial is expected to continue for several more days, with both sides set to call additional key witnesses. Regardless of the final verdict, this lawsuit has already produced far-reaching impacts on multiple levels.

First, it has forced OpenAI's governance structure issues into the public spotlight, accelerating discussions about governance transparency at AI companies. Second, it could influence how future AI companies choose their organizational structures and fundraising approaches. Finally, the court's legal determination on the act of "a nonprofit organization converting into a for-profit entity" will provide an important legal reference for the entire tech industry.

In an era of rapidly advancing AI technology, the balance between technological power, commercial logic, and public interest has become a global issue. This legal battle between Musk and Altman may well serve as a catalyst for the industry to establish a more robust governance framework.