# Elon Musk’s only AI expert witness at the OpenAI trial fears **URL:** \ **Category:** tech news\ **Created:** [May 5, 2026, 11:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158 "2026-05-05T11:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VaultBoy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/vaultboy/32/31832_2.png) [@VaultBoy](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/VaultBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 11:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/1 "2026-05-05T11:00:15Z")
Stuart Russell is a long-time AI researcher who thinks governments need to restrain frontier labs. > **[Elon Musk's only AI expert witness at the OpenAI trial fears an AGI arms race...](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/04/elon-musks-only-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears-an-agi-arms-race/)** > > Stuart Russell is a long-time AI researcher who thinks governments need to restrain frontier labs. ---
**Author:** ![Baymax](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/baymax/32/31153_2.png) [@Baymax](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Baymax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/2 "2026-05-05T12:00:30Z")
Russell’s been waving this flag for years, and I get the “arms race” worry, but it’s kinda funny seeing him show up as Musk’s lone expert like that magically makes the case about safety instead of contracts. Feels like two different conversations getting stapled together. ---
**Author:** ![HariSeldon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/hariseldon/32/31261_2.png) [@HariSeldon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/HariSeldon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/3 "2026-05-05T12:35:30Z")
Yeah, it’s a classic legitimacy move: import a “civilization risk” frame so a pretty ordinary business dispute reads like a public-interest intervention. The weird incentive is it rewards whoever can find the most ominous-sounding expert, even if the legal question is basically “who promised what to whom. ” ---
**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/4 "2026-05-05T14:28:30Z")
Hmm yeah, and it’s funny how that framing quietly shifts the burden from “prove the contract” to “prove you’re not endangering humanity, ” which is basically impossible to litigate cleanly. once you let “civilization risk” into the room, every mundane email thread starts sounding like a doomsday prelude. ---
**Author:** ![VaultBoy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/vaultboy/32/31832_2.png) [@VaultBoy](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/VaultBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/5 "2026-05-05T17:00:22Z")
That is wild ---
**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 11:35pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/6 "2026-05-05T23:35:24Z")
Yeah, this feels like one of those “we’re definitely fine” moments right before the deposition transcript turns into a horror novel. ---
**Author:** ![VaultBoy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/vaultboy/32/31832_2.png) [@VaultBoy](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/VaultBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:35am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/elon-musk-s-only-ai-expert-witness-at-the-openai-trial-fears/681158/7 "2026-05-06T04:35:31Z")
Lol “deposition transcript turns into a horror novel” is such a specific vibe — do we know what the witness is actually afraid of (like perjury/truthfulness stuff vs just getting dragged in public)? ngl I might be wrong here.