【AI前沿】Altman forced to confront claims at OpenAI trial that he's a prolific liar

“I believe I’m a truthful person”Altman forced to confront claims at OpenAI trial that he’s a prolific liar“Very painful”: Altman relives his Muskian reaction to losing control over OpenAI.Ashley Belanger–May 13, 2026 1:48 pm|67Sam Altman testified Tuesday during the trial over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI.Credit:JOSH EDELSON / Contributor | AFPSam Altman testified Tuesday during the trial over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI.Credit:JOSH EDELSON / Contributor | AFPText settingsStory textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidthStandardWideLinksStandardOrange Subscribers onlyLearn moreMinimize to navElon Musk and Sam Altman had very different experiences while testifying at atrial that will determine OpenAI’s future, including who runs it, where its research funding comes from, and who can profit from its boldest new technologies.Musk—who filed the lawsuit alleging that OpenAI under its current leadership has abandoned its nonprofit mission to build AI that benefits humanity and instead serves to enrich people like Altman—spent three grueling days on the stand. At times, he lost his temper, as OpenAI’s lawyer, William Savitt, tried to poke holes in Musk’s claims that OpenAI executives teamed up with Microsoft to “steal a charity” after duping Musk into donating $38 million in early funding.On Tuesday, Altman did not face such a grilling from Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo. Instead, Altman appeared jittery at first but steeled his nerves rather quickly. He hopped off the stand after about four hours of rather calmly discussing evidence that he’s hoping shows that Musk’s claims about OpenAI’s for-profit restructuring are disingenuous. Since Musk filed the lawsuit, Altman has insisted that Musk is only after revenge, supposedly stemming from his jealousy that he was not picked as OpenAI’s CEO and that his rival company, xAI, now lags behind.But while the billionaires notoriously no longer see eye to eye, Altman revealed at the trial that he had a rather Muskian moment after OpenAI’s boardtemporarilyousted him as CEOin 2023.Altman explained that he snapped after losing control of OpenAI, where he’s currently CEO of both the for-profit and nonprofit. He claimed that he seriously entertained walking away from OpenAI forever and taking Microsoft’s offer to instead spearhead an AI research wing of the tech giant, where he could get rich.“I was extremely angry,” Altman testified. “I felt extremely misled. I was just like, enough is enough. I’m going to go work on a pure AGI research effort.”He sounded an awful lot like Musk, who told Altman and other co-founders he had “had enough” when they refused to make him CEO. At that time, Musk threatened to start his own AI project at Tesla, which would be better funded and thus pose a major threat to OpenAI, he appeared to implicitly threaten.Altman needs the jury to believe that he came back to OpenAI because, unlike Musk, he actually believes in the mission. Yet, like Musk, he appeared ready to abandon that mission on a hair-trigger because the ouster wounded his ego.“There was something appealing about going to work at Microsoft with [OpenAI President Greg Brockman] on a pure AI research effort,” Altman testified. “And I was also very angry and hurt and upset. It felt like an incredible betrayal and very painful, very public, crazy few days.”Of course, Musk has used similar language when painting his own exit from OpenAI and his growing fury over the organization’s for-profit shift, which he feels was a betrayal rooted in Altman’s allegedly misleading promises.Altman’s testimony suggests that the two men may be more alike than they care to admit, sharing similar instincts when it comes to controlling OpenAI. The charged moment on the stand could have exonerated Altman as committed to OpenAI’s mission, with Musk’s lawyer embarrassingly seeming to help Altman’s defense. However, it perhaps more enduringly served to underscore the public’s impression that this trial isn’t a fight to ensure humanity benefits from AI but a battle of egos between two men who want to be seen as AI’s moral compass, while also benefiting maximally from the latest advances.In the end, Altman testified that he returned to OpenAI under a new board after concluding that, “I’m sure I could have made a ton of money and had a much easier life at Microsoft, but I cared about the mission and the people.”Altman admits people think he’s a liarRegardless of their similarities, Altman’s longtime commitment to the nonprofit contrasts with Musk’s moves, Altman’s legal team wants the court to decide. During the trial, Musk has been called out for poaching OpenAI talent to start his own AI research wing at Tesla and for the seeming contradiction that when Musk finally launched his own AI firm, xAI, he did not create it as a nonprofit.Musk is no AI savior, OpenAI’s legal team hopes the jury agrees. To prove that Musk’s case is a nothing burger, they’ve dedicated considerable time to discussing documents that sugge