OpenAI Lawyer Defends Sam Altman Against Character Attacks
Sam Altman character attacks OpenAI trial
OpenAI lead attorney Bill Savitt launched a vigorous defense of CEO Sam Altman on Thursday, May 14, 2026, as the landmark federal trial against Elon Musk reached its dramatic conclusion in Oakland. During closing arguments, Savitt characterized the multi-week legal battle as a campaign of personal grievance rather than a legitimate dispute over corporate governance.
He dismissed the aggressive character attacks leveled by Musk’s legal team as “distractions” designed to obscure the fact that no formal contract ever existed to prevent OpenAI from adopting a for-profit structure. Savitt argued that Musk is motivated by “jealousy and professional spite” after failing to secure a majority stake in the company back in 2018. The defense emphasized that the restructuring was a mechanical necessity to raise the massive capital required for artificial general intelligence research, which Musk himself had initially encouraged through private emails.
The defense’s closing remarks served as a direct rebuttal to Musk’s lead lawyer, Steven Molo, who spent his final address to the jury labeling Altman a “liar.” Molo highlighted testimony from five high-profile witnesses—including former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and former CTO Mira Murati—who previously questioned Altman’s trustworthiness. Molo claimed that Altman’s “pattern of deception” allowed him to “swindle” Musk out of $38 million in donations by pretending the organization would remain a pure nonprofit forever.
He argued that the transition into a Microsoft-backed juggernaut constituted a “breach of charitable trust” of Shakespearean proportions. However, Savitt countered this by pointing out that the OpenAI nonprofit still maintains ultimate control over the for-profit subsidiary, ensuring the mission to benefit humanity remains intact despite the influx of commercial investment.
On the witness stand earlier this week, Sam Altman denied that he had “stolen a charity” and instead painted a picture of Musk as an erratic leader who once demanded 90% equity in the firm. Altman testified that Musk tried to “kill” the lab on two separate occasions when he could not exert total control over its direction.
This testimony was crucial for the defense, as U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers instructed the jury to consider whether Musk’s own behavior indicated he viewed OpenAI as a commercial competitor. The outcome of the trial carries staggering financial weight, with Musk seeking the “disgorgement” of billions of dollars and the removal of Altman as CEO. As the nine-person jury begins deliberations, the tech industry awaits a verdict that could either clear the path for OpenAI’s $1 trillion IPO or fundamentally disrupt the current trajectory of the global AI market.
