During cross-examination in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, Musk’s attorney Steven Molo skipped the dry legal arguments and went straight for Sam Altman’s jugular — his personal integrity.
‘Are you a completely trustworthy person?’ ‘Do you only say what people want to hear, regardless of whether it’s true?’ Faced with a barrage of former employee testimony, Altman abandoned any pretense of a perfect defense. He admitted in court that ‘there have been moments in my life when I haven’t told the truth’ and acknowledged hearing business partners call him a ‘liar’ behind his back.
To prove Altman is using OpenAI for personal gain, the lawyer presented a glaring list of conflicts: Altman’s personal investments in fusion startup Helion Energy and chipmaker Cerebras, both of which have deep business ties to OpenAI. When asked whether, as a board member, he would fire himself for such behavior, Altman gave a terse reply: ‘I have no intention of doing so.’
With that exchange, Musk’s strategy became clear: if you can’t dismantle a $730 billion company on the merits, you go after its CEO’s character. The goal is to paint Altman as a self-dealing liar — and hope the stink sticks.