OpenAI Lawsuit: Microsoft CEO Testifies in Court, Altman and Musk Controversy Spreads to AI Giant's Core Partnership

Odaily Odaily reports that Satya Nadella, as CEO of Microsoft, testified in the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, in the OpenAI lawsuit. The case revolves around the ongoing legal dispute over OpenAI's non-profit structure and its commercialization path, which continues to escalate. The lawsuit was filed by Musk in 2024, accusing Microsoft of "aiding and abetting a breach of charitable trust duties" during OpenAI's transition from a non-profit to a commercial entity. Microsoft has made strategic investments in OpenAI since 2019, cumulatively totaling approximately $13 billion by 2023, making it one of OpenAI's most significant external backers.

During the trial, Satya Nadella reviewed the early partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, mentioning that the two parties had established deep technical and computing power collaboration before the launch of ChatGPT. In his prior testimony, Musk stated that Microsoft's additional investment of about $10 billion in OpenAI in 2023 was the key tipping point for his decision to file the lawsuit, arguing that the scale of this investment altered OpenAI's original non-profit-oriented structure. "We feared they were turning a charitable organization into a commercial tool," Musk said in court. He also questioned Microsoft's potential dominant position in the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), noting that its deep integration with OpenAI could impact the competitive landscape of the industry.

The case is still under trial, and the disputes surrounding OpenAI's governance structure, non-profit status, and control over the AI industry are expected to continue to escalate. (CNBC)