Tags: Microsoft

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, took the stand Wednesday in a California federal courtroom, facing a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. The case, stemming from a rift that began when Musk invested $38 million in OpenAI’s early days, seeks to overturn the company’s for‑profit restructuring and strip Altman and co‑founder Greg Brockman of leadership roles. Testimony so far has included senior figures from Microsoft and former OpenAI insiders, underscoring the high‑stakes clash between two of the tech world’s most prominent AI pioneers. Read more

The U.S. Commerce Department deleted a web page that described an agreement in which Microsoft, Google and Elon Musk's xAI would submit their most advanced AI models to government scientists for security testing before public release. The page, first posted on May 5, vanished Monday afternoon and now redirects to the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, the agency that runs the tests. Neither the department nor the Trump White House offered an explanation, and the three companies have not commented. The removal comes amid shifting federal AI policy and ongoing debate over giving the government pre‑release access to frontier AI systems. Read more

Emails between senior Microsoft leaders, presented in the Elon Musk versus Sam Altman lawsuit, show the tech giant hesitated to pour additional funding into OpenAI as early as 2017. Executives questioned the lab’s progress toward artificial general intelligence and worried a funding shortfall could drive the AI startup to rival Amazon. The correspondence predates Microsoft’s landmark $1 billion investment in 2019, highlighting a cautious start to what would become one of tech’s most celebrated partnerships. Read more

Elon Musk’s legal action against OpenAI alleges that the lab’s for‑profit arm has abandoned its original safety mission in favor of rapid product rollout. In a federal court in Oakland, former employee and board member Rosie Campbell testified that key safety teams were disbanded and that a Microsoft‑deployed GPT‑4 model entered the Indian market without clearance from OpenAI’s Deployment Safety Board. The case also highlights internal board disputes, CEO Sam Altman’s alleged nondisclosure, and expert testimony that the organization’s governance now favors profit over safety, fueling calls for stricter AI regulation. Read more

In a courtroom testimony that has captured the tech world’s attention, former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati detailed the internal battles that led to CEO Sam Altman's abrupt removal in November 2023. Murati described how she helped compile a 52‑page memo for co‑founder Ilya Sutskever, exchanged dozens of urgent text messages with Altman, and briefly served as interim chief executive before the board installed Emmett Shear. The deposition reveals the board’s claim that Altman was “not consistently candid” and shows how employee backlash and Microsoft’s involvement forced a rapid reversal, returning Altman to the helm. Read more

Industry leaders and scholars warn that without clear standards, AI safety testing could become a political tool. Microsoft, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Center for AI Safety Initiative (CAISI) plan to develop testing methods on the fly, but critics argue that only an independent audit system can prevent government overreach and ensure accountability. Cornell professor Gregory Falco proposes a rigorously enforced audit regime akin to the IRS, urging firms to adopt internal safety checks before deployment. Read more

Elon Musk left OpenAI's board in early 2018 after a heated dispute with co‑founders over control of the nonprofit's future. The disagreement, which began in 2017 when Musk demanded full authority over a planned for‑profit arm, led to a breakdown in funding and eventually a legal battle that began in 2024. Testimony from OpenAI president Greg Brockman, including excerpts from his private journal, revealed the tension behind the scenes. The conflict has resurfaced as courts examine whether Musk’s departure was voluntary or forced, and how the organization’s governance evolved into the AI powerhouse it is today. Read more