Elon Musk Amplifies Sam Altman Exposé as Trial Opens
▼ Summary
– Elon Musk boosted a post on X promoting a New Yorker investigation into Sam Altman’s allegedly deceptive behavior, as his lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman heads to jury trial.
– The boosted post, originally by Ronan Farrow from April 6, was verified by WIRED and appeared without an “ad” label but with options like “report ad.”
– Musk reposted Farrow’s story, calling “Scam” Altman accurate and recommending the article.
– Musk’s lawsuit accuses OpenAI and Altman of abandoning the nonprofit mission to benefit humanity, claiming his early investment was misused.
– OpenAI rebuts Musk’s claims, arguing he knew the company would need to become a business; jury selection began Monday with some potential jurors expressing dislike for Musk or AI.
As Elon Musk’s high-stakes legal battle against OpenAI and Sam Altman enters a federal courtroom, the tech billionaire is using his platform X to amplify a critical media exposé. On Monday, just as jury selection began in the trial, Musk boosted a post from journalist Ronan Farrow promoting The New Yorker’s deep-dive investigation into Altman’s alleged history of deception. WIRED has confirmed the move, which adds a layer of public pressure to the courtroom drama.
Users scrolling through X on Monday morning spotted the April 6 post from Farrow, a coauthor of the investigative piece. A pop-up notification on the X mobile app indicated the post was boosted by @elonmusk, who also owns the platform. The Boost feature allows X subscribers to pay an extra fee to increase a post’s visibility. WIRED independently verified the pop-up window.
Musk didn’t stop there. He also reposted Farrow’s story directly to his own account, adding a pointed comment. “Calling him “Scam” Altman is accurate,” Musk wrote, referencing a nickname mentioned in the article for OpenAI’s CEO. “This is very much worth reading.”
Neither X nor OpenAI responded to WIRED’s request for comment. The New Yorker declined to comment. (Both WIRED and The New Yorker are owned by Condé Nast.)
Notably, the boosted post did not display an “ad” label in users’ feeds on Monday. However, clicking on the post’s options menu revealed choices like “report ad.” According to X’s Boost feature FAQ page, “boosted posts must also self-identify as an advertisement and comply with X’s ad policies.”
The trial itself centers on Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, company president Greg Brockman, and Microsoft. Musk alleges that the ChatGPT creator abandoned its original nonprofit mission: to develop artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all humanity. As a cofounder who invested tens of millions of dollars in OpenAI’s early days, Musk argues his money was not used as he intended. OpenAI counters that Musk knew from the start the organization would eventually need to become a large business to achieve its goals. The trial opened Monday with jury selection, where several potential jurors admitted they were not fans of Musk or AI in general.
(Source: Wired)
