Elon Musk was in China with President Donald Trump on Thursday as closing arguments were delivered in the federal lawsuit he brought against his former OpenAI co-founders, leaving his lead attorney to apologize to the jury for his absence.
Musk's counsel Steven Molo addressed the jury directly, telling them the case was something his client cared deeply about. "This is something he is passionate about," Molo told jurors. Musk had testified during the first week of the trial and had been placed on recall status by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, meaning he was supposed to remain available to return to court on short notice if needed.
Witnesses in a trial would normally submit a motion for permission to travel and wait for a judge to grant it before traveling far away. A spokesperson for the court said they did not know if Musk had obtained permission to travel. Musk's attorneys did not respond to a request for information about whether they cleared his travel with the judge or consulted with Musk regarding his travel.
While Musk was abroad, both Sam Altman and co-defendant Greg Brockman were present in the Oakland courtroom. OpenAI counsel William Savitt did not let the contrast go unnoticed. "Mr. Musk isn't here today — my clients are here," he told the jury. "They're here because they care about this."
The lawsuit, which Musk filed against Altman and Brockman, alleges they violated a founding promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit and unjustly enriched themselves by restructuring the company into a for-profit entity. During closing arguments, Savitt and fellow counsel Sarah Eddy walked jurors through documents showing Musk had wanted to convert OpenAI into a for-profit company himself, but only if he could control the business or merge it with Tesla.
Eddy also addressed Musk's claim that his early donations to the nonprofit came with conditions attached. According to CNBC, Eddy told the jury that Musk had claimed his donations had "specific strings attached," then added, "Mr. Musk has come nowhere close to making that case," and "even the people who work for him, even the mother of his children can't back his story." The reference was to Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Musk's children, whose testimony was cited by defense counsel as failing to support Musk's version of events.
Musk traveled to China alongside Trump, who was holding meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook were also part of the delegation.
The trial, now in its closing stages, stems from one of the more closely watched legal disputes in the technology industry, centering on whether OpenAI's shift away from its nonprofit structure violated the commitments made by its founders when the organization was established.
