Elon Musk is the world's richest person and the plaintiff in a high-stakes trial against his former OpenAI co-founders. On Thursday, when closing arguments played out in federal court, he was thousands of miles away in China.
His lead lawyer had to apologize to the jury for it.
Steven Molo, Musk's lead counsel, told the jury Musk cares about the case even after he failed to show. "This is something he is passionate about," Molo said.
That message landed in an empty seat, with Musk traveling alongside President Donald Trump in China as the trial wrapped in Oakland. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook were also part of Trump's delegation meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Xi told the visiting CEOs that China would "open wider" to U.S. firms, a message aimed at companies like Tesla and Nvidia that depend on Chinese demand. The pitch came as Chinese firms ramp up their own homegrown AI chips, raising the stakes for U.S. tech.
Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, the OpenAI co-founders Musk is suing, both showed up in the Oakland courtroom.
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Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had ordered Musk to stay on "recall status" during the trial, which means he had to be reachable to come back and testify on short notice.
The normal protocol calls for any witness who needs to travel during a trial to file a motion asking permission, then wait for the judge to grant it. A court spokesperson said it was unclear whether Musk cleared the trip beforehand.
Musk's lawyers didn't respond to questions about whether they ran his travel plans by the judge.
Musk filed suit alleging that Altman and Brockman broke a promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit and then made themselves rich by restructuring it into a for-profit business. The case has gripped the broader tech industry, where billions ride on how AI startups are valued and governed.
He testified during the first week of the trial, before the jury heard from the OpenAI side, with testimony also revealing that Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest commercial partner, had worried about being too dependent on the company.
The outcome could shift how AI companies structure themselves and how investors price the next wave of AI deals. Closing arguments wrap up the trial before the jury and judge begin weighing the case.
The advisory jury now weighs Musk's argument without him in the courtroom for the closing pitch. A decision from the jury and Judge Gonzalez Rogers is possible as soon as next week, and it could reshape how AI companies are allowed to convert from nonprofits to for-profits.
The richest person in the world picked the China trip over the end of his own trial.
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