After days of sparring in a federal courtroom, Sam Altman used a Saturday post on social media to extend a small olive branch to rival Elon Musk, saying Musk “can come if he wants” to a limited OpenAI gathering tied to the May 5 rollout of GPT-5.5.
The gesture landed as Musk testified he didn’t read OpenAI’s for-profit fine print and pressed for major governance changes and $150 billion in damages.
Altman’s invite came as OpenAI circulated an online RSVP form for a small GPT-5.5 release celebration, with Codex set to help pick attendees from responses, reported Business Insider.
Non-Profit Built For Humanity
On Thursday in a California court, Musk argued he put millions behind OpenAI, expecting a nonprofit built for humanity, then watched the value concentrate in a for-profit structure.
In his post, Altman added, “The world needs more love,” even as the judge overseeing the case warned both leaders to curb online commentary that could inflame the dispute, according to the report.
That caution arrived after a clash between Musk and OpenAI’s lawyer before the judge intervened.
Musk And Altman
Musk’s testimony also centered on how closely he tracked OpenAI’s restructuring path. He told the court he knew there were early conversations in 2017 about changing the organization, but said he did not dig into the legal specifics at the time.
“My testimony is I didn’t read the fine print, just the headline,” Musk said. He also described where he believes OpenAI’s economic weight sits now: “The for-profit is overwhelmingly where the value is.”
Altman and Musk’s relationship predates the current trial, stretching back to OpenAI’s 2015 launch and Musk’s 2018 departure after disputes over direction, leadership, and safety priorities. Since then, Musk has criticized OpenAI’s commercial trajectory while building xAI as a competitor.
In court, Musk has asked for sweeping remedies that go well beyond damages, including returning OpenAI to nonprofit control and removing Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from leadership.
OpenAI Pushes Back
OpenAI has pushed back by portraying Musk as driven by competitive motives and a desire for control as xAI battles for position in the same market. The company and major backer Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have denied wrongdoing and argued that the for-profit structure was needed to raise the capital required for frontier AI systems.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has kept the trial’s focus on governance and fiduciary duties, limiting wider arguments about AI extinction scenarios.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: jamesonwu1972 / Shutterstock.com
Recent Comments