Sam Altman defends OpenAI in courtroom showdown with Elon Musk

Sam Altman is questioned by OpenAI's attorney, Bill Savitt, before Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a US district judge, at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, on 12 May 2026 in a courtroom sketch. Sam Altman is questioned by OpenAI's attorney, Bill Savitt, before Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a US district judge, at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, on 12 May 2026 in a courtroom sketch. The OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, took the stand on Tuesday to defend himself and his company against a lawsuit by Elon Musk . Altman is set to be one of the final witnesses in the trial, which has pitted two of the tech industry's most powerful men against each other in a dramatic courtroom showdown. Musk has accused Altman and OpenAI of breaking the AI firm's founding agreement by restructuring it into a for-profit enterprise, alleging that Altman essentially swindled him into co-founding the company and providing tens of millions in financial backing.