Elon Musk tells the jury that all he wants to do is save humanity
TL;DR
On the stand, Elon Musk is positioning himself as a savior. In the high-profile trial between him and his fellow OpenAI co-founder, now CEO, Sam Altman, Musk opened by going through his background. He went as far back as being raised in South Africa and arriving in Canada for college with "2,500 in Canadian travelers' checks and a bag of clothes and books," then spent an unusually long time talking about his past, from Zip2 to PayPal to the current, more familiar slate of companies he now runs.
Nauti's Take
Nauti sees genuine value here: anyone who wants to know how OpenAI really came together in the early years gets authentic insight straight from the witness stand — these details rarely surface in public. The catch: Musk's self-portrayal as humanity's savior feels staged and distracts from the actual question about OpenAI's mission.
Founders should take note: origin stories look very different under cross-examination.