Elon Musk Issues Chilling AI Warning During OpenAI Trial

By Babatunji Wusu

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has delivered a stark warning about the future of humanity during a high-stakes legal battle in California. Appearing in an Oakland courtroom on Tuesday, 28 April 2026, the Tesla and SpaceX boss testified that artificial intelligence could become our greatest achievement or our final downfall. While testifying under oath, Musk cautioned that the technology is advancing so fast that “it could k+ll us all.” He urged the world to choose a hopeful path, like the vision seen in Star Trek, rather than the dystopian future of The Terminator.

The legal dispute centres on OpenAI, a company Musk co-founded as a non-profit in 2015. He claims that CEO Sam Altman and other leaders “stole a charity” by turning it into a massive, profit-seeking business valued at over $800 billion. Musk’s lawyers argue that this shift betrayed the original mission to build safe AI for the benefit of everyone. During his courtroom testimony, Musk recalled a 2015 argument with Google’s Larry Page, who allegedly called him a “specieist” for prioritising human life over digital intelligence. Musk described this dismissive attitude toward human survival as “insane.”

As the trial continues, Musk remains firm that AI safety must come before corporate greed. He warned that the day when machines surpass human intelligence is approaching fast. To create a balance, he suggested that his brain-chip firm, Neuralink, might help humans keep up with powerful software. Musk is seeking over $130 billion in damages, which he says should be returned to the non-profit arm of OpenAI. This courtroom testimony has painted a high-risk future where society must decide how much power to give to machines. The world is watching closely as this case could reshape the entire tech industry.

Do you believe a for-profit company can truly be trusted to develop a technology that might threaten human existence?