Does Anyone Care If Elon or Sam “Won’?

Letter to Romans: Tho his titanic suit against OpenAI was tossed on SOL ground, Musk says he “won” & will appeal. His claim charities shouldn’t be “stolen” (converted to profit) resonated but why didn’t he sue earlier & why should an appeal revive a sunken ship?

For that matter, why didn’t’ CEO Altman’s defense team & trial judge toss the case a year ago on the Statute of Limitations ground? It may have been a “technicality” but a walk off passed ball (aka SOL statute) is as good a MLB win in litigation for the defense as a 9^th inning grand slam. On the other hand, why wouldn’t the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals decline to even hear Musk’s promised appeal so as to avoid this nightmare of a case spanning three weeks of testimony & evidence spouted by a gazillion billionaires & technology geeks?

If you think after all this that it’s a proverbial legal mess, you’d be right. As the WSJ’s coverage suggests, however, it was never so much about the law as about logistics. The paper’s headline said it all: “The Art of War, Elon Musk Edition: How to Lose a Lawsuit and Still Claim Victory.” As the case analysis noted, “Sam Altman’s high-profile courtroom win comes at a cost for the OpenAI CEO.” That is: “Musk [still] won in the court of public opinion. He used his incredibly powerful megaphone to question the integrity of a rival with whom he is locked in fierce competition for investors, talent and customers during a historic tech boom.” Poor Sam. Poor Elon. Regardless, the geniuses will get to keep counting their fabulously rich ice cream cones while the world just wants their AI crap to work.

Davd Soul