First there was a dongle. Then there was an attempt to move it. YGR took the opportunity to chew out Musk’s team for not consulting OpenAI about the monitor. There appeared to be no way for OpenAI to access the monitor and so it has been carried out. I am sitting next to the reporter from Wired and we are trying not to die of laughter.
OpenAI is concerned it will obscure the view of the defendants, and also that Musk’s team has refused to share it so they can it for their case as well. YGR says Musk’s team can use it if OpenAI’s team can use it, but it does need to be moved. “I wish you would have said something yesterday” about the monitor, she says to Musk’s team.
YGR is on the bench, and we are going through assorted issues before the jurors come in. It seems that YGR got page numbers on a set of demonstratives from Musk’s team and OpenAI’s team did not. “I would suggest you not use this,” YGR says of the slide at issue. Good morning!
I enjoyed reading this story about Bill Gates’ malevolent influence on the current crop of Silicon Valley megalomaniacs. If you remember his pre-Gates Foundation reputation, you will particularly appreciate it.
[The New York Review of Books]
There is no rebuttal case from Musk’s team. We will get closing statements tomorrow.
It was on “functional expsenses,” ie, salaries, compute, etc. The cross is just arguing about the methodology of accounting for commingled money in the donated accounts. I can’t believe we are having a methodology dispute about this. I may die.
John Coates noted that he’s worked for a lot of law firms as an expert witness, including Quinn Emanuel, Musk’s primary firm — and not the one trying the case today. He is excused. The judge is now huddling in sidebar with the primary lawyers for the case, and an animated discussion is taking place.
Also, he apparently has worked as an expert witness on a few Twitter cases, including the one where Musk tried to get out of buying Twitter. Incidentally, OpenAI’s lawyers are also the ones who made Musk buy Twitter. Is that deliberate shade? Who can say.
Some highlights:
So during the opening statements, Musk’s lawyers said that a for-profit like a museum gift shop shouldn’t be bigger than a nonprofit, like a museum. We are now hearing from Daniel Hemel, OpenAI’s expert witness. Guess what? Museum gift shops generally aren’t for-profit; they’re part of the nonprofit. Also, OpenAI’s for-profit isn’t ancillary to the nonprofit — it’s how the nonprofit pursues its mission, like with the Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corportation.