Nadella Defends OpenAI's For-Profit Status in Court

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is defending OpenAI's for-profit status. He stated in federal court that a for-profit entity is essential for OpenAI to pursue its mission. This comes during testimony in Elon Musk's lawsuit against the AI company. Musk's attorney questioned Nadella about Microsoft's investment in OpenAI. Court documents showed Microsoft hoped for a $92 billion return on its initial $13 billion investment. The current valuation of OpenAI makes Microsoft's stake worth around $135 billion. Nadella also discussed his concern over the ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November 2023, saying he wanted to keep the team that created the technology together. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever also testified, stating he never promised Musk the company would remain a non-profit. He also recalled Musk wanting to own more than half of the for-profit entity. This legal battle highlights the complex nature of AI development and its commercialization.