Musk admits Tesla not pursuing AGI, contradicting own tweet in OpenAI trial
On Wednesday, Elon Musk testified in a federal court in California that Tesla is not working towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), which contradicts his previous statement on Twitter that "Tesla will be one of the companies to make AGI." This revelation came during cross-examination by William Savitt, the attorney for OpenAI, in Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and the cofounders, whom he accuses of misleading him into backing a nonprofit that allowed its for-profit division to take over. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, alleges they "looted the nonprofit." Evidence indicated Musk endorsed the for-profit shift in 2016 and discussed it in 2017. He was also questioned about his claim of a $100 million investment compared to the actual $38 million. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers restricted inquiries regarding AI safety, and Musk is set to return for more questioning on Thursday.
Key facts
- Musk testified Tesla is not pursuing AGI, contradicting his tweet.
- Lawsuit alleges Altman and cofounders tricked Musk into backing a nonprofit then let for-profit dominate.
- Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman, Sutskever, Brockman, and others.
- Musk supported for-profit conversion as early as 2016 and explored majority equity in 2017.
- Musk stopped regular donations after 2017 but paid office space until 2020.
- Musk claimed $100 million investment; actual amount was $38 million.
- Emails showed Musk backed poaching OpenAI employees for Tesla and Neuralink.
- Judge Gonzalez Rogers limited safety questioning but allowed it on xAI and OpenAI approaches.
Entities
Institutions
- OpenAI
- Tesla
- Neuralink
- xAI
- Microsoft
- TechCrunch
Locations
- California
- United States
- Canada
- Tumbler Ridge