【AI前沿】Elon Musk Had ‘Hair-Raising’ Idea of Passing OpenAI On to His Kids, Sam Altman Says

Maxwell ZeffParesh DaveBusinessMay 12, 2026 8:10 PMElon Musk Had ‘Hair-Raising’ Idea of Passing OpenAI On to His Kids, Sam Altman SaysMusk’s lawyers questioned Altman over allegations of deception and his network of financial investments, but the OpenAI CEO painted a picture of Musk as obsessed with controlling the company.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storySam Altman tookto the witness stand to defend his reputation in theMusk v. Altmantrial on Tuesday, as Elon Musk’s lawyers peppered theOpenAICEO with hours of questions regarding his alleged history ofdeceptive behavior.The cross-examination was a much needed win for Musk, who has so far struggled to make a convincing case. Tuesday’s testimony included several heated exchanges in which the OpenAI CEO had to respond to allegations from former colleagues suggesting he’suntrustworthy.Highlighting this evidence is not only important for Musk winning over a jury, but also for beating OpenAI in the court of public opinion. Days before the trial started, Musk texted OpenAI president Greg Brockman andtold himthat he and Altman would soon “be the most hated men in America.”Musk’s lawsuit accuses Altman of effectively stealing the OpenAI charity, and taking the $38 million Musk donated to the nonprofit organization and using it to create a for-profit business worth more than $850 billion.However, there was little evidence on Tuesday to address the gaps in Musk’s legal case. Altman and Sam Teller, Musk’s former chief of staff, testified on Tuesday that they did not recall Musk ever attaching any special conditions to his donations to OpenAI. Additionally, it appears increasingly likely that Musk filed his case too late, years after he made his last donation to OpenAI and developed suspicion that the organization had breached its charitable trust. By then, the statute of limitations had already expired.Got a Tip?Are you a current or former OpenAI or Tesla employee who wants to talk about what’s happening? We’d like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporters securely on Signal at Mzeff.88 and Peard33.24.Brockman and his wife, Anna, sat in the gallery alongside OpenAI’s chief futurist, Joshua Achiam. While Altman and Brockman were present to watch Musk on the witness stand, Musk did not stay for Altman’s testimony. (Flight records suggesthe was traveling to the Washington, DC, area on Tuesday to fly to China with President Donald Trump.)Before fielding questions from Musk’s lawyers, Altman had the chance to tell his side of the story, answering gentle questions from OpenAI’s lawyers. Wearing a purple tie, Altman painted himself as an entrepreneur and investor who’s always been fascinated by, and concerned about, the power of artificial intelligence.Altman testified that Musk has long been obsessed with controlling OpenAI. He recalled “a particularly hair-raising moment” when Musk suggested that control of OpenAI should pass to his children if Musk were to die. “We didn’t feel comfortable with that,” Altman said. Altman also suggested that Musk’s attempt in 2018 to start an AI unit within Tesla—and offering him the chance to run it—felt like a “vague, lightweight threat” that Musk would effectively crush OpenAI with or without him.Bombarding AltmanSteven Molo, Musk’s lawyer, wasted no time in his cross-examination, asking Altman: “Are you completely trustworthy?” as his first question. Altman responded that he believes so, and then Molo immediately asked whether the jury should trust the testimony he just gave. Altman responded, “That’s up to them. I’m not going to tell the jury what to think.” Here’s the heated exchange that followed, as best as WIRED could capture it:Molo:Do you always tell the truth?Altman:I’m sure there is some time in my life where I have not.Molo:Do you tell lies to advance your business interests?Altman:No.Molo:Have you misled people with whom you do business?Altman:I do not think so.Molo:Do they think so?Altman:I can’t answer that for other people.Molo:You’ve repeatedly been called a liar by people you’ve done business with, right?Altman:I’ve heard people say that.Molo went through accusations against the OpenAI CEO from former OpenAI executives and board members—including Musk, former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, former chief technology officer Mira Murati, and former board member Tasha McCauley, as well as Anthropic cofounders Dario and Daniela Amodei—and interrogated Altman about them one by one. Molo even brought up accusations from nearly 15 years ago when Altman ran Loopt, a location-sharing startup, alleging he lied about the company’s daily active user count.Altman tried his best to evade these questions, asking Molo to cite specific testimonies and claiming he was unaware of certain allegations.Later, Molo was able to get clearer answers out of Altman regarding his investments in companies that