Musk v. Altman week 3: Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded blows over each other’s credibility. Now the jury will pick a side.
Musk v. Altman week 3: Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded blows over each other’s credibility. Now the jury will pick a side.
马斯克诉奥特曼案第三周：埃隆·马斯克与萨姆·奥特曼就彼此的信誉展开激烈交锋，现在将由陪审团做出裁决。
In the final week of the Musk v. Altman trial, lawyers traded blows over Elon Musk’s and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s credibility. Altman was grilled on his alleged history of lying and self-dealing involving companies that do business with OpenAI. But he fired back, painting Musk as a power-seeker who wanted to control the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—powerful AI that can compete with humans on most cognitive tasks. 在马斯克诉奥特曼案的最后一周，双方律师就埃隆·马斯克和 OpenAI 首席执行官萨姆·奥特曼的信誉展开了激烈交锋。奥特曼因其在与 OpenAI 有业务往来的公司中涉嫌撒谎和进行利益输送的历史而遭到严厉盘问。但他予以回击，将马斯克描绘成一个渴望权力的野心家，意图控制通用人工智能（AGI）的开发——即那种在大多数认知任务上都能与人类竞争的强大人工智能。
As evidence of their commitment to AI safety, OpenAI brought out a golden trophy of a donkey’s ass that was gifted to an employee after he was called a “jackass” for standing up to Musk’s plans to race toward AGI. Lawyers for both sides also presented their closing arguments, floating unflattering mugshot-style photos of Musk and Altman next to each other on a giant screen. 为了证明他们对人工智能安全的承诺，OpenAI 展示了一座驴屁股形状的金色奖杯。这件奖杯曾被赠予一名员工，因为他曾因反对马斯克急于推进 AGI 的计划而被骂作“蠢驴”（jackass）。双方律师还进行了结案陈词，并在大屏幕上并排展示了马斯克和奥特曼那张并不光彩的“入狱照”风格照片。
Musk’s lawyer Steven Molo argued that Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman broke their promise to use money Musk donated to maintain OpenAI as a nonprofit that develops AI for the benefit of humanity. Instead, they created a for-profit subsidiary that made them extraordinarily wealthy. OpenAI’s lawyer Sarah Eddy argued that Altman and Brockman never promised to keep OpenAI a nonprofit. She added that even though it’s been restructured, OpenAI remains a nonprofit dedicated to developing AI safely. She claimed that Musk sued too late—and that his real motive is to sabotage a competitor to his own AI company, xAI, which he launched in 2023. 马斯克的律师史蒂文·莫洛（Steven Molo）辩称，奥特曼和 OpenAI 总裁格雷格·布罗克曼（Greg Brockman）违背了诺言，没有将马斯克捐赠的资金用于维持 OpenAI 作为一家造福人类的非营利性 AI 开发机构。相反，他们创建了一家营利性子公司，并借此积累了巨额财富。OpenAI 的律师莎拉·埃迪（Sarah Eddy）则辩称，奥特曼和布罗克曼从未承诺让 OpenAI 永远保持非营利状态。她补充说，尽管经过重组，OpenAI 依然是一家致力于安全开发人工智能的非营利组织。她声称马斯克起诉太晚，其真实动机是破坏他自己在 2023 年创立的 AI 公司 xAI 的竞争对手。
Musk is asking the court to unwind the 2025 restructuring that converted OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary into a public benefit corporation and to remove Altman and Brockman from their roles. He is also seeking as much as $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, to be awarded to OpenAI’s nonprofit. The jury will begin deliberating on Monday and deliver an advisory verdict as soon as next week. The jury verdict is not binding on the judge, who will decide the case. 马斯克要求法院撤销 2025 年的重组方案（该方案将 OpenAI 的营利性子公司转变为一家公益公司），并罢免奥特曼和布罗克曼的职务。他还寻求向 OpenAI 和微软索赔高达 1340 亿美元，并要求将这笔赔偿金判给 OpenAI 的非营利部门。陪审团将于周一开始审议，并最早于下周给出咨询性裁决。陪审团的裁决对法官没有约束力，最终判决将由法官做出。
If the judge rules in Musk’s favor, it could upend OpenAI’s race toward an IPO at a valuation approaching $1 trillion. Meanwhile, xAI is expected to go public as a part of Musk’s rocket company SpaceX as early as June, at a target valuation of $1.75 trillion. 如果法官做出有利于马斯克的裁决，可能会颠覆 OpenAI 估值近 1 万亿美元的 IPO 进程。与此同时，xAI 预计最早将于 6 月作为马斯克旗下火箭公司 SpaceX 的一部分上市，目标估值为 1.75 万亿美元。
Musk the power-seeker, Altman the liar. In the first week of the trial, Musk said he was suing to save OpenAI’s mission to build AI safely for the benefit of humanity. This week, Altman denied Musk was a paladin of AI safety and painted him as a power-seeker who wanted to control OpenAI. Altman told the jury that in 2017, when Musk and other cofounders were discussing creating a for-profit arm, they asked Musk what would happen to his control over such an entity if he died. “Maybe the control of OpenAI should pass to my children,” Musk said, according to Altman. 马斯克是权力追求者，奥特曼是骗子。在庭审的第一周，马斯克表示他起诉是为了拯救 OpenAI 为造福人类而安全构建 AI 的使命。本周，奥特曼否认马斯克是 AI 安全的捍卫者，并将他描绘成一个想要控制 OpenAI 的权力追求者。奥特曼告诉陪审团，2017 年当马斯克和其他联合创始人讨论创建营利性部门时，他们问马斯克如果他去世，他对该实体的控制权会怎样。据奥特曼称，马斯克当时说：“也许 OpenAI 的控制权应该传给我的孩子们。”
Musk’s lawyer shot back, grilling Altman on his alleged history of lying. He pointed out that OpenAI’s former executives Ilya Sutskever and Mira Murati, and former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, all testified that Altman had lied to them. In 2023, Altman was briefly fired as CEO over the alleged behavior. Molo also pressed Altman about his personal investments in startups that do business with OpenAI. Altman testified that he tried to steer OpenAI to buying power from the nuclear energy company Helion Energy, a third of which he owns. (Last Friday, the US House oversight committee launched an investigation into Altman’s potential conflicts of interest. Attorneys general from more than a half-dozen states called for the Securities and Exchange Commission to review them.) 马斯克的律师予以回击，就奥特曼涉嫌撒谎的历史对他进行了严厉盘问。他指出，OpenAI 的前高管伊利亚·苏茨克维（Ilya Sutskever）和米拉·穆拉蒂（Mira Murati），以及前董事会成员海伦·托纳（Helen Toner）和塔莎·麦考利（Tasha McCauley）都作证称奥特曼曾对他们撒谎。2023 年，奥特曼因这些指控曾短暂被解雇。莫洛还就奥特曼对与 OpenAI 有业务往来的初创公司的个人投资向他施压。奥特曼作证称，他确实曾试图引导 OpenAI 从核能公司 Helion Energy 购买电力，而他拥有该公司三分之一的股份。（上周五，美国众议院监督委员会对奥特曼潜在的利益冲突展开了调查。来自六个多州的司法部长呼吁证券交易委员会对此进行审查。）
During his closing statement, Molo put Altman’s credibility on the stand again. “Imagine that you’re on a hike, and you come upon one of those wooden bridges that you see on a trail, and it’s over a gorge,” he said. “A woman standing by the entry to the bridge says, ‘Don’t worry—the bridge is built on Sam Altman’s version of the truth.’ Would you walk across that bridge?” Altman, who sat behind his lawyers, looked up uneasily every time his name was mentioned. During her closing argument, Eddy fired back. Musk “never cared about the nonprofit structure,” she said. “What he cared about was winning.” Musk, though, was absent. Despite the judge’s order that he remain available, he flew to China with President Trump. 在结案陈词中，莫洛再次质疑了奥特曼的信誉。“想象一下，你正在徒步旅行，遇到了一座横跨峡谷的木桥，”他说，“桥头站着一位女士，她说：‘别担心，这座桥是建立在萨姆·奥特曼版本的真相之上的。’你会走过这座桥吗？”坐在律师身后的奥特曼每次听到自己的名字时，都会不安地抬头。在结案陈词中，埃迪进行了反击。她说，马斯克“从不在乎非营利结构，他在乎的是赢。”然而，马斯克本人并未出席。尽管法官下令要求他随时待命，但他还是随特朗普总统飞往了中国。
Did Altman promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit? During her closing argument, Eddy argued that no testimony or evidence showed any conditions on Musk’s donations, or any promises made by Altman and Brockman to keep the company a nonprofit. “No commitments or promises were made. No restrictions were placed on Mr. Musk’s donations,” she said. Eddy added that it was evident Musk wasn’t truly committed to keeping OpenAI a nonprofit. She noted that in 2017, he tried to create a for-profit subsidiary and fought a bitter battle with Altman and Brockman to have control over it. “I was not opposed to there being a small for-profit that provides funding to the nonprofit,” Musk told the jury earlier in the trial, “as long as the tail didn’t wag the dog.” 奥特曼是否承诺过让 OpenAI 保持非营利状态？在结案陈词中，埃迪辩称，没有任何证词或证据表明马斯克的捐款有任何附加条件，也没有证据表明奥特曼和布罗克曼曾承诺让公司保持非营利。“没有任何承诺或保证。对马斯克先生的捐款也没有任何限制，”她说。埃迪补充说，很明显马斯克并没有真正致力于让 OpenAI 保持非营利。她指出，2017 年他曾试图创建一家营利性子公司，并为了获得控制权与奥特曼和布罗克曼进行了激烈的斗争。“我不反对有一个为非营利组织提供资金的小型营利性机构，”马斯克在庭审早些时候告诉陪审团，“只要不是本末倒置（尾巴摇狗）就行。”
Eddy then argued that Musk sued too late, filing in 2024 after the statutes of limitations on his claims ran out. In 2019, OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary, under which employees and investors received a capped return on their investment. But Musk testified that he discovered OpenAI had abandoned its nonprofit mission only in 2022, when Microsoft was preparing to invest $10 billion in OpenAI—a deal that closed in 2023. “I was disturbed to see OpenAI with a $20B valuation,” he texted Altman after reading the news. “This is a bait and switch.” Musk told the jury that the $20 billion valuation made him realize “the for-profit is the tail wagging the dog.” “The 2023 deal was different,” Molo hammered home during his closing argument. Is OpenAI still a nonprofit committed to its mission? A central question raised in the last week of trial was whether OpenAI remains a nonprofit committed to developing AGI safely for the benefit of humanity. 埃迪随后辩称，马斯克起诉太晚，他在 2024 年提起诉讼时，其诉讼时效已经过期。2019 年，OpenAI 创建了一家营利性子公司，员工和投资者在其中获得有上限的投资回报。但马斯克作证称，他直到 2022 年才发现 OpenAI 已经放弃了其非营利使命，当时微软正准备向 OpenAI 投资 100 亿美元——这笔交易于 2023 年完成。“看到 OpenAI 拥有 200 亿美元的估值，我感到不安，”他在读到新闻后给奥特曼发短信说，“这简直是挂羊头卖狗肉。”马斯克告诉陪审团，200 亿美元的估值让他意识到“营利性部门已经本末倒置了”。“2023 年的交易性质不同，”莫洛在结案陈词中强调道。OpenAI 是否仍然是一家致力于其使命的非营利组织？庭审最后一周提出的一个核心问题是，OpenAI 是否仍然是一家致力于为人类利益安全开发 AGI 的非营利组织。