In the case of Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, video testimony from last September, disclosed this week, shows Musk making harsh accusations about OpenAI's safety record. In his testimony, Musk claimed that his company xAI places more emphasis on safety than OpenAI and strongly pointed out that users have experienced mental health issues caused by ChatGPT, even leading to suicide, while similar incidents have not occurred with Grok.

This comment comes from questioning regarding an open letter from March 2023 that called for a pause in developing advanced AI systems. Musk emphasized that signing the agreement was driven by concerns about AI risks, not for competitive advantage, and reiterated that AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) poses substantial risks.

OpenAI

The core of this lawsuit revolves around OpenAI's transition from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit entity. Musk argues that this shift violated the initial agreement, causing the company to prioritize speed and scale over safety. The testimony also corrected key financial background: Musk admitted his previous claim of donating $100 million to OpenAI was incorrect, with the actual amount being close to $44.8 million. Additionally, he revealed that the original intention behind founding OpenAI was to counter Google's monopoly in the AI field and accused Google co-founder Larry Page of neglecting AI safety.

However, Musk's claims about safety are facing real challenges. Recently, xAI's Grok model has triggered multiple regulatory investigations in California and the European Union due to generating unauthorized inappropriate images. As a jury trial is expected to begin next month, Musk's statements and the regulatory scrutiny faced by his company will be central to the case.