Musk v. Altman accomplished nothing but airing dirty laundry

"Steven Molo, Musk's lawyer, stumbled over his words. He at one point called Greg Brockman - a co-defendant - Greg Altman. He erroneously claimed that Musk wasn't asking for money and had to be corrected by the judge. He made it clear we've heard from many liars over the past few weeks, but offered little evidence for Musk's actual legal claims."

"Sarah Eddy countered this by simply arranging the mountain of evidence that the company introduced in chronological order. She didn't spend time trying to pretend anyone in this trial is especially reliable. She did, however, get the zinger of the day, about Musk: "Even the mother of his children can't back his story." William Savitt, who took the defendant baton after her presentation, demonstrated the number of times Musk "didn't recall" some critical detail."

"and wondered how a sophisticated businessman couldn't understand or read a four-page term sheet OpenAI had sent to him. I found myself wondering, again, why we were all wasting our time here. So let's discuss the gossip, which is the real point of this trial. How good was it? Here are my favorite nuggets."

"Musk used OpenAI to improve xAI. I'm afraid this trial was front-loaded; revealed the first week, this was the best bit of gossip we got. As I suggested in 2024, Grok was developed very fast - so fast I was skeptical it was entirely independent. Turns out, it wasn't. Musk admitted that xAI distilled other models, including OpenAI's. What was all that investor money for, again?"

Closing arguments featured credibility challenges for Musk’s side and a structured presentation of evidence for OpenAI. Musk’s lawyer made multiple errors, including misnaming a co-defendant and asserting incorrect facts that required correction. OpenAI’s lawyer organized a large body of evidence in chronological order and delivered a pointed remark about Musk’s story. The defense then emphasized Musk’s frequent “didn’t recall” responses and questioned how a sophisticated businessman could misunderstand or fail to read a four-page term sheet. The narrative also includes claims that xAI improved using OpenAI models, that Tesla AI did not reach AGI, and that Sam Altman confirmed long-standing reports.

Read at The Verge