Musk admits xAI distilled OpenAI models to train Grok
#HEADER title=Musk admits xAI distilled OpenAI models to train Grok keywords=xai,distillation,openai trial,grok,elon musk,ai ethics #ENDHEADER
Elon Musk testified under oath that xAI used OpenAI models to train Grok. His words: it is standard practice to use other AIs to validate your AI.
The admission came during the fourth day of Musk v. Altman in a federal courtroom in Oakland. OpenAI lawyer William Savitt pressed Musk on whether his company had used distillation techniques on OpenAI outputs. Musk said it happened in part, framing it as routine industry practice.
Distillation is the exact practice that OpenAI has accused Chinese competitors like DeepSeek of using to copy its models at a fraction of the training cost. OpenAI has called it theft. Now the plaintiff in a $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI has admitted doing the same thing.
Musk is suing OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman for converting a nonprofit charity into a for-profit company. He donated roughly $38 million to OpenAI between 2015 and 2017. He claims Altman reassured him repeatedly that the organization would remain nonprofit. When asked whether he had read the actual term sheet Altman sent him on August 31, 2017 about the for-profit transition, Musk said he did not read the fine print, just the headline.
That is an uncomfortable admission for someone asking a jury to award $150 billion based on contractual assurances he says he received.
Musk grew visibly frustrated during cross-examination. At one point he told Savitt, few answers are going to be complete, especially when you cut me off all the time. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers admonished Savitt for not letting Musk answer but rejected Musk complaints about the questioning style.
The judge also shut down attempts by Musk legal team to introduce expert testimony about AI extinction risk. Steven Molo, a lawyer for Musk, argued that extinction risk is a real problem and that we all could die. Gonzalez Rogers responded by pointing out the irony that Musk himself is building an AI company making the same products. She ruled the testimony inadmissible, saying this is not a trial on the safety risks of artificial intelligence.
Musk loves the Terminator framing. He brought it up in his opening testimony, he brought it up during cross-examination, and his lawyers tried to make it a central argument. The jury is being asked to believe that the man who testifies AI could kill us all is simultaneously running a company that is building and selling that same technology. The judge saw the contradiction clearly enough to point it out herself.
Polymarket traders currently price Musk odds of winning the lawsuit at around 42 percent.
After more than seven hours of testimony across three days, Musk was dismissed. His wealth manager Jared Birchall took the stand next. The trial is expected to last several more weeks. Greg Brockman and AI safety researcher Stuart Russell are among the upcoming witnesses.
Musk wants the court to force OpenAI back to nonprofit status, remove Altman and Brockman as officers, and award $150 billion in damages with proceeds going to OpenAI charitable arm. OpenAI argues Musk left because he could not control the company and is now suing because a venture he cofounded became more successful than his own.
Sources: Reuters, Rappler, The Guardian, Benzinga, TechCrunch