Musk vs. Altman in Court, and Why AI Still Can’t Find a Profit

Musk and Altman’s Legal Showdown

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are finally taking their feud to court this week, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. OpenAI is gearing up for an IPO, but the court might decide whether it can even exist as a for-profit company. If Musk gets his way, the leadership could be ousted entirely.

Musk, one of OpenAI’s original co-founders, claims he was tricked into funding the company under false pretenses. He’s asking for $134 billion in damages, the removal of both Altman and president Greg Brockman, and a forced return to non-profit status. That’s a lot of money and a lot of drama, even by Silicon Valley standards.

The outcome could reshape the global AI race. If OpenAI is forced back to non-profit, it loses the financial firepower to compete with Google, Microsoft, and the rest. If it stays for-profit, Musk gets to say “I told you so” about the mission drift. Either way, it’s a mess.

The Missing Step Between Hype and Profit

There’s a classic South Park episode where a gang of gnomes steals underpants. Their business plan? Phase 1: Collect underpants. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit. That question mark in Phase 2 is exactly where the AI industry is right now.

Companies have built impressive technology (Step 1) and promised world-changing transformation (Step 3). But how they actually make money from it is still a big, unanswered question. Will Douglas Heaven wrote about this, and he’s right to point out the gap. We’re seeing massive investments in compute, talent, and infrastructure, but the revenue streams are still fuzzy.

Some think enterprise sales will save the day. Others bet on subscription models or API usage fees. I’m not convinced any of these are enough yet. The hype is real, but the profit is still a ghost.

Welcome to the Era of Weaponized Deepfakes

For years, experts warned that deepfakes would become a serious problem. Well, they’re here now, and they’re worse than many expected.

Cheap, accessible models are producing weaponized deepfakes that look startlingly real. We’re talking sexually explicit images, political propaganda, and content designed to incite violence. Women and marginalized groups are getting hit hardest, but nobody is safe from the erosion of trust.

Eileen Guo’s piece captures why experts are alarmed. These deepfakes aren’t just changing minds; they’re cratering critical thinking. When you can’t believe what you see or hear, democracy and social cohesion take a direct hit. It’s not a future threat anymore. It’s happening right now.

Quick Hits from the Week

OpenAI ended its exclusive partnership with Microsoft. The new deal lets OpenAI court rivals like Amazon, which is a big shift. Microsoft still gets to license the tech, but exclusivity is dead. OpenAI is also missing key growth targets ahead of its IPO, according to the WSJ. That’s not a great look when you’re trying to convince investors you’re the next big thing.

Google signed a classified AI deal with the Pentagon. The deal permits AI use for “any lawful government purpose,” which is vague enough to make anyone nervous. Over 600 Google workers had called for a block on the deal, but the company went ahead anyway. AI firms are now training military versions of their models on classified data. This is a trend that’s only going to accelerate, and I’m not sure we’ve thought through the consequences.

That’s the state of play. Musk and Altman in court, AI chasing profits, and deepfakes eroding reality. Just another week in the AI circus.