Musk vs Altman: 5 Biggest Moments from Week 1 of the OpenAI Trial — And What Happens When Altman Takes the Stand Monday

Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer

● WEEKEND RECAP — May 1, 2026

TECH • AI • LEGAL • OPENAI TRIAL

No court today — the jury was sent home for a three-day weekend with strict instructions not to discuss the case. But Week 1 of the Musk v. Altman OpenAI trial produced several headline-making moments. A lumberjack origin story. A speciesist accusation. A judge’s scolding. A Terminator reference. And one very tense cross-examination. Here is everything that happened — and what to expect when Sam Altman takes the stand Monday.

May 1, 2026 • By World Affairs Desk, techsunnews.com • 7 min read • Sources: CNBC, ABC7, NPR, The Ringer, ABC News

TRIAL SCOREBOARD — Week 1

Moment 1 — The lumberjack who feared Google’s AI

Musk’s lawyers had a plan for his opening testimony: make the jury like him. Before Musk became the world’s richest person, he told jurors, he was a lumberjack in Canada. He waited tables. He arrived in America with almost nothing. It was a deliberate humanising strategy for a Bay Area jury that might not be naturally sympathetic to a centibillionaire.

Then came the substance. Musk said his motivation for co-founding OpenAI in 2015 was a dinner argument with Google co-founder Larry Page — who dismissed Musk’s AI safety concerns by calling him a “speciesist” for prioritising human life. That moment, Musk said, convinced him that the most powerful AI lab in the world was being built by someone who didn’t take the risks seriously enough. OpenAI, in his telling, was supposed to be the safety counterweight to Google’s DeepMind. By 2026, he told jurors: “AI is very smart.”

“If the verdict makes it OK to loot a charity, the entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed.”
— Elon Musk, testimony, April 29, 2026

Moment 2 — The judge scolds Musk over his social media posts

Before the jury entered the courtroom on Tuesday morning, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers took Musk to task for his social media activity. Musk had spent Monday on X posting about the trial, calling Altman “Scam Altman” and accusing him of stealing a charity. The judge warned Musk that if the posts continued, she would consider a gag order. Musk largely complied during the week. The exchange was a preview of the tone to come — the judge runs a tight courtroom and has shown she will not let either side grandstand without consequence. She later reprimanded OpenAI’s lead lawyer Savitt for repeatedly interrupting Musk mid-answer, telling him to let witnesses complete their responses.

Moment 3 — “Your questions are definitionally complex”

One of the most memorable exchanges of the week came when OpenAI lawyer William Savitt attempted a simple cross-examination. Musk was having none of it. When Savitt said he was asking a simple question, Musk fired back: “Your questions are definitionally complex, not simple. It is a lie to say they are simple.” The courtroom laughed. Savitt pressed on. Musk accused him of asking “leading questions” and “leading answers.” The judge had to intervene to remind Musk he is not a lawyer. Musk retorted that he has “technically” taken “law 101,” generating more laughter. Despite the comedy, Savitt landed serious blows — presenting evidence that Musk had pushed for majority control of OpenAI’s board and capitalization table, undermining his claim that he was purely a philanthropic backer.

Moment 4 — The Terminator, AI robots and “I don’t know what OpenAI does”

Week 1 also included several unusual courtroom exchanges. OpenAI’s lawyer asked if Tesla is building a “military army of robots.” Musk said no, adding: “If we make a lot of robots, we’ve got to make sure they are safe and do not turn into a Terminator situation.” Musk also said he expects AI to be “smarter than any human” as early as next year. And in his most damaging moment, when OpenAI’s lawyer asked about the company’s safety efforts, Musk admitted: “I don’t know what’s going on at OpenAI.” That single line gave OpenAI’s legal team exactly what they wanted to argue: that Musk is suing a company he no longer understands, to benefit a rival he does.

Moment 5 — The email that said “You are my hero”

Among the most striking exhibits shown this week: a 2023 email from Sam Altman to Musk, written after Musk had publicly attacked OpenAI multiple times. Altman wrote: “You are my hero. I am hurt by your attacks.” Musk’s response: “I hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake.” The exchange was read aloud in a federal courthouse before a nine-person jury. It was the most human moment of a week dominated by legal combat — a glimpse of two men who once shared a genuine vision for AI safety, now on opposite sides. One of the most closely watched tech lawsuits in recent years.

“You are my hero. I am hurt by your attacks.”
— Sam Altman, email to Elon Musk, 2023 — shown as trial exhibit

What happens next — Altman on the stand Monday

The court is dark today and Saturday. The jury returns Monday morning with Sam Altman expected to take the witness stand. After Musk spent three days presenting his version of OpenAI’s origins, and attacking OpenAI’s mission, Altman will have the chance to give his version: that Musk knew the for-profit conversion was coming, that he tried to seize control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla, and that this lawsuit is motivated not by principle but by commercial rivalry. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are also on the witness list. The trial is expected to last four weeks in total. Read our full explainer on what’s at stake — $134 billion, OpenAI’s IPO and the future of AI governance all hang in the balance.

SOURCES — 6 verified portals

1. CNBC — OpenAI trial Day 3 recap: Musk concludes testimony (April 30, 2026)

2. CNBC — OpenAI trial Day 2: Musk cross-examination (April 29, 2026)

3. ABC7 San Francisco — Musk week 1 live updates (April 28–30, 2026)

4. NPR — Musk and Altman to face off over the future of OpenAI in trial (April 28, 2026)

5. The Ringer — Elon Musk’s OpenAI Trial Testimony: Annotated (April 30, 2026)

6. techsunnews.com — Musk vs Altman: The OpenAI Trial Begins — $134 Billion and AI’s Future at Stake