Elon Musk Left For China With Trump During OpenAI Trial Despite Judge's 'Recall Status' Order: Report – Benzinga
Amid the ongoing trial in Oakland, California, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers placed Musk on a “recall status” order, but the billionaire failed to seek permission from the Judge before leaving, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk and the United States District Court didn’t immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
A recall status order means that the witness should be available to testify in court again on short notice. Notably, Musk wasn’t instructed by the judge not to travel or leave the country, the report said. Musk’s decision to travel could only present problems should he be called to the witness stand again, the report said.
The ongoing trial in California was brought by Musk, who accused OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman of diverting from the company’s original non-profit goals after the former invested millions of dollars in the company.
Musk testified that he had contributed roughly $38 million, as well as significant personal support, to OpenAI based on assurances from Altman that the company would preserve its nonprofit structure.
Altman, on the other hand, defended the for-profit arm of the company under oath, while also saying that Musk’s push to rank researchers based on accomplishments did significant damage to OpenAI’s work culture.
Altman also said that Musk knew about the for-profit goals before leaving the Board in 2018, also outlining that Musk had once sought a 90% stake in OpenAI.
Meanwhile, former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever testified that he had spent about a year compiling evidence to showcase Altman’s alleged dishonesty.
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