Day three of the Musk v. Altman trial saw intense cross-examination, with OpenAI's lead attorney, William Savitt, systematically challenging Elon Musk's narrative that he was a deceived donor committed to a nonprofit mission. Savitt utilized Musk's own emails, pledge shortfalls, and communications with Shivon Zilis to argue that the lawsuit is primarily a competitive grievance disguised as a principled charitable stance.
During the proceedings in Oakland federal court, Musk called himself "a fool" for funding OpenAI, accusing its leadership of "looting the nonprofit." He stated, "I gave them $38 million of essentially free funding, which they then used to create an $800 billion for-profit company. I actually was a fool who created free funding for them to create a startup. I literally was." This statement reinforced his legal strategy of portraying himself as a deceived benefactor rather than a party in a failed corporate power play.
Savitt, however, quickly probed the discrepancy between Musk’s actual $38 million in donations and his initial pledge of "up to $1 billion" when OpenAI was founded. When pressed on this funding shortfall, Musk retorted, "Without me, OpenAI wouldn’t exist!" He asserted that beyond monetary contributions, his reputation, contacts, and credibility were invaluable, collectively exceeding $100 million in intangible terms. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers intervened at one point, acknowledging Savitt's difficulty in obtaining direct answers from Musk, noting, "That is the challenge of all litigants."
The most compelling evidence deployed by Savitt came from Musk’s personal communications with Shivon Zilis, a venture capitalist who served on OpenAI’s board and has children with Musk. Savitt presented a 2018 email where Zilis asked Musk if she should remain close to OpenAI to "keep feeding him information on the company." Musk confirmed his agreement and that Zilis continued to facilitate communication between him and OpenAI after his departure from the board.
A second Zilis exhibit proved structurally significant: an email from Zilis to Sam Teller, a former employee of Musk, outlining two potential structural changes for OpenAI: "Roll everything into a B corp" or "OpenAI C Corp and OpenAI nonprofit." Savitt directly argued that Musk was presented with and considered these for-profit restructuring options. When asked if he had ever instructed Zilis to file paperwork converting OpenAI to a for-profit entity, Musk replied, "I don’t recall."