馬斯克 vs OpenAI 法庭對決至今最大看點
Elon Musk’s Courtroom Showdown with OpenAI: Biggest Takeaways So Far
埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）在證人席上度過了將近三天的時間，指控 OpenAI 及其高層欺騙他捐贈資金，以協助創立如今這家全球最大的人工智慧公司之一。
Elon Musk spent the better part of three days on the stand, accusing OpenAI and its executives of deceiving him into donating money to help found what is now one of the world’s biggest AI companies.
這起訴訟讓馬斯克與他曾經的合作夥伴（如今已變成競爭對手）——OpenAI 執行長山姆·奧特曼（Sam Altman）和總裁格雷格·布羅克曼（Greg Brockman）正面交鋒。馬斯克指控兩人在偏離 OpenAI 作為非營利組織的創立宗旨、轉型為營利性公司後，獲取了不義之財。馬斯克同時也將微軟（Microsoft）列為共同被告，指控其協助並教唆 OpenAI 違反慈善信託。
The lawsuit pits Musk against his former collaborators-turned-competitors, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, whom Musk alleges unjustly enriched themselves when they strayed from OpenAI’s founding mission as a nonprofit organization to become a for-profit company. Musk also named Microsoft as a co-defendant in the case, accusing the company of aiding and abetting OpenAI’s breach of charitable trust.
這場法庭審判充分展現了雙方的強烈個性和極高賭注。馬斯克在庭上頻繁與 OpenAI 的律師發生衝突，指責對方試圖「設計陷阱套他的話」。法官不時對涉案各方進行訓斥，甚至一度直言不諱地要求馬斯克切實回答所提的問題，並警告雙方停止爭論「AI 是否會導致人類滅絕」等話題。
The big personalities and high stakes of the trial were on full display in court, as Musk regularly clashed with OpenAI’s attorney, accusing him of trying to “trick me.” The judge occasionally scolded the parties involved, at one point going so far as to tell Musk to actually answer the questions he’s being asked and warning them to stop talking about whether AI will cause human extinction.
OpenAI 和微軟則抗辯指出，馬斯克最初是支持創立營利性分支機構的。他們認為，馬斯克提起這項訴訟純粹是因為他未能完全掌控 OpenAI，如今只是想藉此擊垮他的競爭對手。
OpenAI and Microsoft have argued that Musk was supportive of creating a for-profit arm of the company. They say he is only bringing the suit because he wasn’t able to take complete control of OpenAI and now wants to bring down a competitor.
🔍 法庭對決四大核心看點
Four Key Highlights of the Legal Showdown
1. 馬斯克的 AI 計劃備受質疑
Takeaway 1OpenAI 的律師威廉·薩維特（William Savitt）指出，馬斯克在 2018 年 2 月退出 OpenAI 董事會，是因為他被阻止單方面控制該公司。然而，馬斯克表示，他退出董事會是為了專注於他的其他公司，包括 SpaceX 和特斯拉。
William Savitt, OpenAI’s lawyer, suggested that Musk quit OpenAI’s board in February 2018 because he was blocked from taking unilateral control of the company. Musk, however, said he quit the board to focus on his other companies, including SpaceX and Tesla.
薩維特暗示，在馬斯克離開董事會後的幾年裡，他採取了種種行動來掣肘 OpenAI，特別是在創立了競爭公司 xAI 之後。在盤問中，薩維特詢問馬斯克在 2023 年簽署公開信倡導暫停開發比 OpenAI GPT-4 更強大的 AI 系統時，是否透露了自己已經創立了另一家 AI 公司。薩維特還提及了馬斯克去年曾帶頭嘗試與一群營利性投資者收購 OpenAI 的舉動，對此馬斯克回應道：「建立營利性組織沒有錯，但你不能偷走一家慈善機構。」
Savitt suggested that in the years after Musk left the board, he took actions to hobble OpenAI, especially after forming a competing company, xAI. In questioning, Savitt asked whether Musk disclosed that he started his own AI company when he signed a public letter in 2023 advocating to pause development of AI systems that are more powerful than OpenAI’s GPT-4. Savitt also brought up the attempt Musk led last year to buy OpenAI with a group of for-profit investors, to which Musk responded: “There’s nothing wrong with having a for-profit organization, you just can’t steal a charity.”
薩維特進一步追問馬斯克，既然這麼看重非營利性質，為什麼自離開 OpenAI 董事會以來一直不自己成立一家 AI 非營利機構。馬斯克表示，他之所以沒有創立新的非營利機構，是因為他已經創立了 OpenAI。馬斯克說：「既然我已經創立了一家非營利機構，為什麼還要再去創立另一家？這根本說不通。」
Savitt also pressed Musk on why he hasn’t created an AI nonprofit since leaving OpenAI’s board. Musk said that he didn’t create a new one because he had started OpenAI. “Why would I start another nonprofit when I already started a nonprofit? That doesn’t make any sense,” Musk said.
2. 關於 AI 安全風險的激烈辯論
Takeaway 2在週四正式盤問開始前，法庭上的爭論已從 OpenAI 的創立宗旨延伸到了 AI 所帶來的安全風險。
The debate in the courtroom extended beyond OpenAI’s founding into the safety risks posed by AI just before questioning began Thursday.
「我們都可能因為 AI 而死，」馬斯克的律師史蒂芬·莫洛（Steven Molo）在週四陪審團和馬斯克入座前，對 OpenAI 的律師及法官伊馮·岡薩雷斯·羅傑斯（Yvonne Gonzales Rogers）說道。但羅傑斯法官表示，這種聳人聽聞的陳述將不允許在陪審團面前發表，特別是考慮到馬斯克本人也創立了他自己的營利性 AI 公司 xAI。
“We could all die” because of AI, Steven Molo, Musk’s attorney, said to OpenAI’s attorney and Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers before the jury and Musk were seated on Thursday. But Judge Gonzales Rogers said such dire statements wouldn’t be permitted in front of the jury, especially given that Musk had founded xAI, his own for-profit AI company.
「我猜有很多普通人並不想把人類的未來交託在馬斯克先生的手中，但這並不重要，我們不打算深入探討這些問題，」羅傑斯法官說，她強調這場審判的焦點並非「AI 是否已經對人類造成了實質損害」。
“I suspect there are plenty of people who don’t want to put the future of humanity in Mr. Musk’s hands, but it doesn’t matter, we aren’t going to get into those issues,” Rogers said, noting the trial is not about whether or not AI has damaged humanity.
3. 馬斯克曾親自參與註冊營利子公司
Takeaway 3這起案件的核心爭議在於，OpenAI 及其高層是否將公司不公義地轉型為一家追逐利潤的公司、違反了其初衷並誤導了馬斯克。
The question at the heart of the case is whether OpenAI and its executives unjustly turned the company into a profit-seeking company, breaching its original mission and misleading Musk.
馬斯克是該公司的共同創辦人之一，曾向 OpenAI 提供高達 3800 萬美元的資金。然而，他在 2018 年便離開了，並於 2020 年停止了所有的資金給付。馬斯克作證時說道：「我給了他們無償資金去創建一家初創公司，我當時一直認為這是向一家旨在『為全人類福祉』研發人工智慧的非營利組織進行捐款。」
Musk was one of the company’s co-founders and provided $38 million to OpenAI. However, he left in 2018 and stopped all payments by 2020. “I gave them free funding to create a startup,” Musk testified, saying that he thought he was donating to a nonprofit that was aiming to make AI “for the good of humanity.”
然而，根據向陪審團展示的電子郵件，早在 2015 年 OpenAI 正式宣告成立之前，馬斯克就曾提議過讓 OpenAI 包含一個營利性實體。OpenAI 的律師指出，在 2017 年，馬斯克曾指示他的高級顧問以 OpenAI 的名義註冊了一家營利性公司，並出示了當時的會議記錄和註冊文件作為佐證。馬斯克本週作證時坦言，他其實並不反對 OpenAI 擁有一個營利性子公司，只要這個子公司不會「反客為主」吞併掉原本的非營利主體，但他認為這正是最終發生的悲劇。
But as early as 2015, before OpenAI was officially announced, Musk had proposed that OpenAI include a for-profit entity, according to emails shown to the jury. In 2017, he directed his senior advisors to register a for-profit corporation in OpenAI’s name, OpenAI’s attorney said, pointing to meeting notes and the registration documents. Musk testified this week that he was fine with OpenAI having a for-profit subsidiary as long as it didn’t “overtake” the nonprofit, which he argued is what ultimately happened.
4. 馬斯克自承「沒有看清合約細則」
Takeaway 4週三，薩維特向馬斯克展示了 2018 年的電子郵件與簡訊，內容顯示奧特曼曾試圖將 OpenAI 從微軟獲取額外資金支援的計劃告知馬斯克（當時馬斯克並未回覆所有訊息）。
On Wednesday, Savitt showed Musk emails and text messages from 2018 in which Altman tried to tell Musk about OpenAI’s plans to secure additional funding from Microsoft. (Musk did not reply to all the messages.)
當時的一封郵件中包含了一份關於擬議公司架構的條款書，其中明確寫道 OpenAI 目標在未來籌集 100 億美元的資金——但馬斯克作證時自承，他當時「並沒有看清合約中的細則」。對此，薩維特辛辣反駁道：「那只是一份四頁長的合約文件。」
One email from the time included a term sheet for a proposed corporate structure that explicitly said OpenAI aimed to raise $10 billion in the future – but Musk testified that he “did not read the fine print.” “It’s a four page document,” Savitt replied.
馬斯克隨後作證指出，他對 OpenAI 領導層的信任從那時起開始崩塌。馬斯克在 2022 年曾對奧特曼表示，在微軟注入 100 億美元後，OpenAI 的估值飆升至 200 億美元，這讓人有一種「被誘售（掛羊頭賣狗肉）」的欺騙感。奧特曼當時回信寫道：「我同意這種感覺確實很糟，」但隨後不忘指出，是馬斯克自己拒絕了 OpenAI 曾向他提供的公司股權。
But Musk testified that his confidence in OpenAI’s leaders began to slip. Musk told Altman in 2022 that OpenAI’s $20 billion valuation following Microsoft’s $10 billion investment felt like a “bait and switch.” “I agree it feels bad,” Altman replied, before noting Musk declined the equity OpenAI offered him.
⚖️ 對決谷歌的歷史脈絡
The Broader Context: Competing with Google
馬斯克作證坦言，他當初資助 OpenAI 的核心動力，是為了與谷歌（Google）展開一場研發更好 AI 的軍備競賽。例如，谷歌旗下的 DeepMind 實驗室多年來一直產出大量極規律、極具影響力的頂尖研究。
Musk’s race to build a better AI than Google was a motivating factor in his funding of OpenAI, he testified. Google’s DeepMind laboratory, for example, has produced significant research for years.
「DeepMind 發展速度太驚人了。我很擔心 OpenAI 會跟不上腳步。現在回頭看，把 OpenAI 設立為非營利組織，可能是一個錯誤的決定，」馬斯克在 2016 年寫給他另一家公司 Neuralink 同事的一封郵件中如此寫道。
“DeepMind is moving very fast. I am concerned OpenAI is not moving fast enough to catch up. Setting it up as a nonprofit might, in hindsight, have been the wrong move,” Musk said in a 2016 email to one of his colleagues at Neuralink, another one of Musk’s companies.
馬斯克在週二作證時表示，他當時深切擔心谷歌研發 AI 的方式不夠安全。馬斯克強調，必須存在「某種能與谷歌相抗衡的力量」，即「一個開源、非營利的實體，而不是一個閉源、逐利的企業」。
Musk testified on Tuesday that he was worried Google’s approach to AI wasn’t safe enough. There needed to be “some sort of counterpoint” to Google, “an open source nonprofit as opposed to a closed source for-profit,” Musk said.
⚡ 與 OpenAI 辯護律師的言詞交鋒
Tense Exchanges in the Courtroom
OpenAI 的辯護律師薩維特對馬斯克進行了跨越週三和週四整整兩天的盤問。在盤問過程中，雙方言辭交鋒，數度讓現場氣氛緊繃。薩維特要求馬斯克僅以「是」或「否」來回答提問，在某個對峙時刻，馬斯克忍不住回嗆，詢問薩維特能不能停止打斷他發言。
OpenAI’s attorney, Savitt, questioned Musk over two days, on Wednesday and Thursday. At times, their exchanges became tense. Savitt asked Musk to stick to “yes” or “no” answers, and at one point, Musk asked whether Savitt would stop interrupting him.
「你的問題一點都不簡單。它們根本是設計來套我的話，」馬斯克在週三早些時候對薩維特說，隨後更將對方的盤問比喻為經典邏輯謬誤中的「你現在是不是已經不打老婆了？」（無論回答是或否都承認了打過老婆）。此時法官強行打斷了馬斯克的發言，告誡他「別扯到那裡去」。
“Your questions are not simple. They’re designed to trick me,” Musk said to Savitt early on Wednesday, before comparing the question to the classic fallacy of “have you stopped beating your wife?” The judge cut Musk off, telling him they weren’t going to “go there.”
當陪審團與馬斯克在週三傍晚離開法庭後，羅傑斯法官向 OpenAI 的律師團坦言，馬斯克在某些時刻「確實相當難纏」。
After the jury and Musk left the courtroom for the day on Wednesday, Judge Gonzales Rogers conceded to OpenAI’s lawyers that Musk “was, at times, difficult.”