Nadella Takes the Stand in Musk-Altman Trial: 'We Have Each Other's Phone Numbers'
Microsoft's CEO testified that Musk never contacted him about concerns over OpenAI's direction. The testimony undercuts Musk's central claim in the case.
Satya Nadella testified on Monday in the Musk v. Altman trial in San Francisco. His testimony, delivered over roughly three hours in federal court, undercut one of Elon Musk's core arguments: that Microsoft's multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI was proof the company had abandoned its nonprofit mission, and that Musk was excluded from the process.
Nadella was direct. Musk never contacted him about OpenAI. Ever.
"We have each other's phone numbers," Nadella said from the stand. The implication landed. Musk, who had characterized Microsoft's involvement as a hostile takeover of a charity he co-founded, never picked up the phone to ask the CEO of Microsoft what was happening.
Nadella characterized Microsoft's OpenAI investment — now totaling roughly $13 billion — as a "win-win." He said Microsoft shouldered "all the risk" when Musk stopped funding OpenAI and left the board in 2018. At that point, OpenAI was a small nonprofit with an ambitious research agenda and no clear path to sustainability. Microsoft provided the compute infrastructure and capital that turned GPT-3 from a research paper into a product.
The testimony matters because Musk's legal argument rests, in part, on the claim that OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft violated the original nonprofit charter. If Musk had concerns and never raised them with the counterparty who was allegedly enabling the violation, it makes the concern look less like a principled objection and more like litigation strategy.
The trial has become one of the most closely watched tech industry legal proceedings in years. Musk is seeking to unwind portions of OpenAI's for-profit conversion, arguing that Sam Altman and the board structured the Microsoft deal to enrich themselves at the expense of OpenAI's original mission. Altman's team argues Musk is a disgruntled former co-founder who left, founded a competitor, and now wants to slow OpenAI down through litigation.
Nadella's testimony didn't close the case, but it did remove one narrative. Musk wasn't shut out of conversations about OpenAI's future. He just never started them.