It was a judge which was chosen on Monday, the first day of the trial Musk v. Altman in federal court in Oakland, California. Some of the jurors who were eventually selected expressed concerns about Musk himself, and the AI technology at the heart of the case, but assured the court that they would put these concerns aside for the trial. The start of the games also caused a lot of riots outside the court.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman were spotted in the security line inside the courthouse this morning, but Elon Musk was nowhere to be found. A few reporters crowded into the overflowing room to listen to the sound of the proceedings.
The goal today was to select nine jurors who were likely to be fair and impartial in this case—a very difficult challenge considering the main characters are some of the world’s highest-ranking tech executives. A number of potential jurors said they had negative opinions about Musk when questioned by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and attorneys. But that did not disqualify them; only one judge was eventually pardoned on the basis of his strong negative opinions about Musk.
“The truth is, a lot of people don’t like him,” Gonzalez Rogers said in court. He added that he believes that Americans who have negative feelings about Musk can still be honest about the judicial process and decide the case fairly. The jury will help determine key facts about whether Sam Altman and the other defendants improperly directed the nonprofit OpenAI business away from its original mission, potentially breaking the law in the process. But their decision will be advisory—Gonzalez Rogers will have the final call.
The nine jurors who were eventually selected represented a diverse group, including an artist, a former Lockheed Martin employee, and a psychiatrist. Some of them said they have negative views about artificial intelligence technology in general. Ultimately, however, all candidates assured the court that their outside opinions about Musk and AI should not interfere with their ability to determine the facts of the case.
OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt said in a press conference afterwards that he was satisfied with the judge’s decision.
“Mr. Altman, Mr. Brockman, and OpenAI look forward to presenting their case to that group. They are confident in their position and look forward to the facts being known,” Savitt told reporters. “The problem we think we have to go through is to present the truth here only. We have a story about what happened that is consistent with the facts, it is consistent with the documents, and we just want the judges to see that.”
Musk is already trying to win his case in the court of public opinion. On Monday morning, the billionaire used his social media platform X to promote the latest New Yorker investigation into Altman’s alleged business conduct. The story is weeks old, and the fact that Musk promoted it on the first day of the trial is no coincidence. Earlier this morning, OpenAI’s official newsroom account published a post on X calling Musk’s lawsuit “an attempt to undermine our work to ensure that mainstream artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.” Meanwhile, protesters were outside the courthouse protesting against the full AI race and calling for a pause in the development.
On Tuesday, lawyers for OpenAI and Elon Musk will present opening statements, and the first witness in the case will be called to the stand.
This is a program of Maxwell Zeff’s Model Behavior Newsletter. Read past newsletters here.
