Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Richard LawlerApr 28

“Microsoft unlocked with OpenAI a virtuous cycle.”

According to Microsoft’s lawyer Russell Cohen, making his opening argument in Musk v. Altman, saying that each round of funding (including across the events of November 2023) provided more resources, which produced better research and better models that justified further investment.

Similar to Savitt, Cohen closed by saying that Musk only raised claims about the deal after ChatGPT and OpenAI became successful, and he launched xAI as a competitor.

Richard LawlerApr 28

Microsoft enters the chat.

Following the opening argument by Altman’s lawyer, Russell Cohen began Microsoft’s argument. According to Cohen, the dispute has little to do with Microsoft (which just relaxed its arrangement with OpenAI).

His version of events is that OpenAI came to Microsoft because it needed a massive investment to pursue its research, Microsoft wasn’t there when Musk was donating to the project, and no one, Musk or anyone else, claimed there were any conditions preventing Microsoft from investing.

Richard LawlerApr 28

“We are here because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI.”

As Savitt wrapped up his opening argument, he leaned on saying that Musk’s lawsuit came after the statute of limitations, and that he “sat on his claims for years.” The sour grapes only kicked in once it turned out that OpenAI was valuable.

Richard LawlerApr 28

“[Musk] demanded control, he demanded the ability to make all the decisions without regard to the other founders.”

According to Altman’s lawyer, William Savitt. Continuing his opening argument, Savitt brought up an email from OpenAI scientist Ilya Sutskever around the time Musk’s quarterly donations ended.

It said, “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI,” which apparently upset Musk to the point that he “literally” grabbed his stuff and stormed out.

Live updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s court battle over the future of OpenAI

Richard LawlerApr 28

OpenAI lawyers argue that Elon was right in the middle of discussions about a for-profit pivot.

According to Savitt, once Brockman and Ilya Sutskever built an AI model capable of besting Dota 2 players in 2017 and realized the importance of compute, they held dozens of meetings that included Musk, Jared Birchall (CEO of Neuralink and Musk’s longtime wealth manager), and Shivon Zilis (you know) about how to structure OpenAI for profit.

Richard LawlerApr 28

“Musk was furious that OpenAI succeeded.”

William Savitt, who is representing Sam Altman, continued his opening argument, saying that Musk only started to care about supposedly broken promises by Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman once he became a competitor. “The only person who claims to have heard those promises is Mr. Musk himself.”

Richard LawlerApr 28

OpenAI: Musk’s lawsuit is a “pageant of hypocrisy.”

The lawyers representing Sam Altman and OpenAI are not mincing words when it comes to Musk’s claims in their opening argument, saying that we’re only here “because Mr. Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI.”

Richard LawlerApr 28

Brendan Carr is reportedly preparing to call in Disney/ABC’s broadcast licenses over Kimmel.

While the Trump administration’s attempt to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air was ultimately unsuccessful last year, the president is once again demanding his removal.

Now Semafor and CNN report the FCC is planning to “call in all of the TV station licenses for Disney/ABC for early renewal,” which would start a lengthy and potentially expensive process of hearings for the broadcaster that Carr has hinted at using before.

Update: And now that process has begun.

The FCC is going after the broadcast licenses of Disney-owned ABC stations

Emma Roth

Apr 28

Richard LawlerApr 28

It’s not just the vibes that are off inside OpenAI.

It’s the numbers, too, according to a new Wall Street Journal report, which echoes The Information’s claim earlier this month that CFO Sarah Friar has expressed concern about its IPO plans and CEO Sam Altman’s datacenter spending.

It also says the company “missed an internal goal of reaching one billion weekly active users for ChatGPT by the end of last year,” and other revenue targets.