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Judge "This trial is not an AI safety case"... Curbing Musk's AI fear-mongering
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who sued OpenAI claiming damages for breaking its non-profit promise, stated that he did not carefully review the commercialization documents sent by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Musk testified for the third day on May 30 (local time) at a trial held at the Oakland division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In response to a question from William Savitt, OpenAI's attorney, about whether he had reviewed the documents sent by CEO Altman in August 2017, Musk said, "I only looked at the title and didn't read the fine print," according to Reuters and CNBC.
The document stated that OpenAI was transitioning from a non-profit organization to a for-profit entity overseen by a non-profit.
Savitt pointed out that OpenAI personnel had sent multiple emails to CEO Musk discussing turning their technology private and generating profit from it, arguing that Musk was aware of the commercialization plan.
However, CEO Musk countered, "Altman assured me that OpenAI would remain non-profit."
Savitt also pressed CEO Musk, who criticized OpenAI for becoming a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) capable of pursuing profit after being a non-profit, about the fact that xAI, which he founded, transitioned from a PBC to a general corporation.
CEO Musk replied, "From my perspective, a Public Benefit Corporation and a general corporation are essentially the same."
He then admitted that xAI has not yet released its AI models as open source, as he has advocated.
When Savitt repeatedly interrupted his answers, CEO Musk also expressed frustration, saying, "If you keep interrupting me, I cannot give a complete answer."
During his testimony today, he also stated that Tesla, which he leads, has no intention of developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that possesses intelligence equal to or greater than human intelligence in all aspects.
He replied, "Tesla's AI is for self-driving vehicles, and it's different from a massive AI model that can answer any question."
However, OpenAI's side presented his X (formerly Twitter) post from last month at the trial, where he stated, "Tesla will be one of the companies developing AGI."
Musk further testified in response to a question about whether Tesla is building a 'robot army,' saying, "We don't build any weapons," and "If we build robots in large numbers, we must ensure they are safe and that a 'Terminator' situation does not occur."
Today, Musk's side requested permission for an AI expert to testify, arguing that the jury should be informed of the risks that AI could lead to human extinction or climate catastrophe, but Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over the trial, denied the request.
Judge Rogers emphasized, "This trial is not about AI risks," and "The core issues are breach of public trust and unjust enrichment."
Judge Rogers pointed out the "irony" of CEO Musk founding xAI while claiming AI's dangers, stating, "I imagine there are many people who would not want to put the future of humanity in Mr. Musk's hands, but that is not relevant (in this trial). We will not be discussing such matters."
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