The jury was in elected on Monday during the first day of the hearing Musk v. Altman in federal court in Oakland, California. Some of the ultimately selected jurors expressed concerns about Musk himself, as well as the artificial intelligence technology at the heart of the case, but assured the court they would put those concerns aside until the trial. The start of the meeting also became the catalyst for a number of antics outside the courtroom.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and CEO Greg Brockman were spotted crossing a security line at a courthouse this morning, but Elon Musk was nowhere to be found. Several dozen journalists crowded into a vast room to listen to the audio broadcast of the proceedings.
Today’s goal was to select nine jurors who could be fair and impartial in this case, which was an especially arduous challenge considering the main characters are some of the world’s most notable technology executives. Several potential jurors said they had negative views of Musk during questioning by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and lawyers. But that didn’t necessarily disqualify them; ultimately, only one juror was excused due to his overwhelmingly negative views of Musk.
“The reality is that a lot of people don’t like him,” Gonzalez Rogers said in the courtroom. She added that she believes Americans with negative feelings towards Musk can still maintain fairness in the legal process and have the case resolved fairly. The jury will aid determine the basic facts about whether Sam Altman and other defendants improperly diverted the nonprofit OpenAI venture from its original mission, potentially violating the law in the process. Their verdict, however, will be advisory – the final decision will be made by Gonzalez Rogers.
The nine jurors ultimately selected represent quite a diverse group, including a painter, a former Lockheed Martin employee and a psychiatrist. Some of them said they had a negative opinion of artificial intelligence technology more broadly. Ultimately, however, all of the selected individuals 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 attorney, William Savitt, later said at a press conference that he was satisfied with the jury composition the court used to decide.
“Mr. Altman, Mr. Brockman and OpenAI look forward to presenting their case to the jury. They are confident in their position and look forward to hearing the facts,” Savitt told reporters. “The hurdle we think we have to overcome is simply presenting the truth here. We have a story about what happened that’s consistent with the facts, consistent with the documents, and we just want the jury 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 publicize The Fresh Yorker’s recent investigation into Altman’s alleged fraudulent business conduct. The story is already several weeks senior and the fact that Musk promoted it on the first day of the trial is not accidental. Earlier this morning, the official OpenAI newsroom account posted the following article post at X calling Musk’s lawsuit “an attempt to undermine our work to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” Meanwhile, demonstrators were outside the court, completely protesting against the AI race and calling for a halt to further development.
On Tuesday, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s lawyers will make opening statements, and the first witness in the case will be called to testify.
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