Sam Altman Testifies in Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI, Denies Nonprofit Promise and Conflict of Interest Claims

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified on May 12, 2026 in Elon Musk's federal lawsuit against OpenAI in Oakland, California, denying he ever promised Musk the company would remain nonprofit and defending his personal investments and the company's for-profit conversion. Musk's attorney Steven Molo aggressively questioned Altman's credibility, citing concerns about his honesty from former colleagues including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and former OpenAI board members. The testimony revealed that OpenAI raised $110 billion at a $730 billion valuation in February 2026, with SoftBank investing $30 billion, Nvidia $30 billion, and Amazon $50 billion—all larger than Microsoft's $13 billion investment. The case stems from Musk's failed 2017 attempt to gain controlling stake in OpenAI or merge it with Tesla, and involves questions about conflicts of interest including Shivon Zilis's board role while having children with Musk and working on his competing xAI venture.

Altman cross-examination testimony

• ▪Sam Altman testified that he has changed his view on Elon Musk significantly since February 18, 2023
• ▪The jury watched a short video deposition of Sam Teller, an Elon Musk employee and close associate, on May 12, 2026
• ▪Zico Kolter testified on May 12, 2026 after Sam Altman concluded his testimony
• ▪Sam Altman concluded his testimony and left the courtroom on May 12, 2026
• ▪Sam Altman testified that SoftBank's $30 billion investment in OpenAI was about 2.5 times larger than Microsoft's $13 billion investment
• ▪Sam Altman testified in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California on May 12, 2026
• ▪Sam Altman was less combative than Elon Musk during cross-examination in the May 12, 2026 trial proceedings
• ▪Sam Altman sent a text to Elon Musk on February 18, 2023 stating "I'm tremendously thankful for everything you've done to help. I don't think that OpenAI would have happened without you."
• ▪Greg Brockman arrived in the courtroom on May 12, 2026 shortly after Sam Altman took the witness stand

OpenAI investment structure

• ▪OpenAI announced $110 billion in new funding at a pre-money valuation of $730 billion in February 2026
• ▪OpenAI's February 2026 funding round includes $30 billion from SoftBank, $30 billion from Nvidia and $50 billion from Amazon

Musk merger proposals rejection

• ▪Sam Teller, an Elon Musk employee, wrote in November 2017 that Elon Musk remains very open to the idea of Sam Altman joining the Tesla board as part of a potential OpenAI-Tesla arrangement
• ▪Sam Teller wrote in November 2017 that Elon Musk was committed to building a strong team within Tesla for AI hardware and software and hoped Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever would be involved
• ▪Elon Musk first filed the lawsuit against OpenAI that led to the May 2026 jury trial in 2024

Shivon Zilis board conflict

• ▪Shivon Zilis was an advisor to OpenAI between 2016 and 2019
• ▪Shivon Zilis held a board seat at OpenAI from 2020 to early 2023
• ▪Sam Altman learned in 2021 that Shivon Zilis had children, but did not learn until 2022 that Elon Musk was the father

2023 CEO ouster

• ▪Sam Altman testified that the OpenAI board told Sam Altman he had not been consistently candid in his communications as the explanation for Sam Altman's removal as CEO in 2023
• ▪Sam Altman testified that he was very angry and hurt during his 2023 ouster from OpenAI
• ▪Sam Altman testified that he was completely caught off guard and quite shocked by the OpenAI board's decision to remove Sam Altman as CEO in 2023