{"text":[[{"start":10.35,"text":"Sam Altman said Elon Musk repeatedly made “hair-raising” demands for control over OpenAI, including passing it on to his children, as the AI lab’s chief executive took the stand in a legal battle with the world’s richest man."}],[{"start":24.9,"text":"Altman on Tuesday told a jury in Oakland, California, that he feared Musk would seek “vengeance” after they fell out over the direction of the AI lab they co-founded as a charity in 2015."}],[{"start":37.05,"text":"OpenAI has argued Musk had no objection to converting the start-up into a for-profit business as long as he had control, and his claims that Altman sold out its non-profit mission are part of a long-running campaign of retribution. "}],[{"start":51.05,"text":"Musk’s lawsuit could decide the fate of the $852bn AI lab. The billionaire is seeking to reverse OpenAI’s conversion into a for-profit entity as well as damages of more than $100bn."}],[{"start":64.35,"text":"Testimony on Tuesday focused on the power struggle between Musk and Altman to lead the company. The OpenAI CEO testified Musk repeatedly pushed for control of the company from its inception in 2015 until he left the board in 2018. "}],[{"start":80.89999999999999,"text":"Steven Molo, a lawyer representing Musk, suggested Altman had a “fixation” with being chief executive. He cited a 2017 email from Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman, two other OpenAI co-founders, laying out their concerns about the company’s direction. "}],[{"start":99.39999999999999,"text":"“We don’t understand why the CEO title is so important to you,” they said to Altman, who revealed on Tuesday that he was also considering running for election as California’s governor at the time. "}],[{"start":111.89999999999999,"text":"“Your stated reasons have changed and it’s really hard to understand what’s driving it. Is [artificial general intelligence] truly your primary motivation? How does it connect to your political goals?” they wrote. "}],[{"start":124.35,"text":"Altman said at one point Musk asked for 90 per cent of the equity in OpenAI, subsequently reducing his demand during negotiations but always insisting on a controlling stake. Another option discussed at the time was to absorb it into his electric-car maker Tesla."}],[{"start":141.9,"text":"Altman described “one particularly hair-raising moment [when] my co-founders asked ‘what happens if you [Musk] die?’ [Musk] said: ‘I hadn’t thought about it tonnes but maybe control would pass to my children.’”"}],[{"start":155.9,"text":"“Elon said he would only work on companies that he totally controlled,” Altman said. “I was extremely uncomfortable with it. Part of the reason that we started OpenAI was that we didn’t think AGI should be under the control of one person, no matter how good their intents are.”"}],[{"start":172.5,"text":"Although Musk said he would cede some of his power over time, “he was unwilling to commit in writing that he would not have long-term control”, Altman added. "}],[{"start":182.65,"text":"Altman, who ran start-up incubator Y Combinator, said he had a lot of experience with founders and had observed that they usually refused to give up power when things were going well. "}],[{"start":193.9,"text":"He cited rocket maker SpaceX as an example, highlighting the super-voting shares that Musk is reportedly asking for ahead of its initial public offering this year."}],[{"start":204.1,"text":"Sutskever told the Oakland court on Monday that Musk pushed for control of the company because he felt his other businesses had suffered when he loosened his grip."}],[{"start":212.5,"text":"Altman said he was “annoyed” when he found out Musk was starting a competitive AI effort at Tesla and was trying to poach OpenAI staff."}],[{"start":220.65,"text":"A concern was that Musk is “known to be mercurial. People wondered if he would take a vengeance out on us or something,” Altman said. "}],[{"start":228.1,"text":"He added that his feelings were “mixed” about Musk’s departure because “he didn’t understand how to run a good research lab. He demotivated our key researchers.”"}],[{"start":236.95,"text":"Altman said Musk had asked Brockman and Sutskever to make a list of researchers and their accomplishments and rank them so they could “take a chainsaw through”, which seriously damaged morale."}],[{"start":248.04999999999998,"text":"Musk quitting in 2018 “was a morale boost in some ways. [People thought] we’re not going to have to work this way any more.”"}],[{"start":256.75,"text":"Molo, Musk’s attorney, also probed Altman on his trustworthiness and conflicts of interest. "}],[{"start":262.6,"text":"Altman has personal stakes worth about $2bn in companies that do business with OpenAI. Those include social media group Reddit, nuclear energy start-up Helion and chipmaker Cerebras, which is on target to raise roughly $5bn in an IPO this week."}],[{"start":279.65000000000003,"text":"Molo cited testimony from former OpenAI executives and board members over the past week who claimed Altman has misled or lied to them. "}],[{"start":288.55,"text":"He asked: “Do you always tell the truth?” Altman replied: “I believe I’m a truthful person . . . I am sure there is some time in my life when I have not.”"}],[{"start":307.75,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778647489_8548.mp3"}