Mira Moratti tells the court she cannot trust Sam Altman’s words

Mira Moratti, the former CTO of OpenAI, testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman lied to her about safety standards for a new model of artificial intelligence. In a video clip shown during the ongoing deposit Musk v. Altman During the trial on Wednesday, Moratti said Altman falsely stated that OpenAI’s legal department had decided that the new AI model did not need to go through the company’s Publication Safety Board. “You understand, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?” Moratti was asked at the deposition. “No,” Moratti said.

Moratti said that during her time at OpenAI, Altman made her job more difficult. She said her criticism was “entirely related to the administration.” “I had a very difficult job in an organization that was very complex. I was asking Sam to lead, to lead clearly, and not to undermine my ability to do my job.”

The safety stance around one of OpenAI’s GPT models was an example of this. Moratti testified that after speaking with Altman, she checked the matter with Jason Kwon, who joined OpenAI in 2021 as its general counsel and is now the company’s chief strategy officer. Moratti said there was an “imbalance” between Ma Kwon and Altman. “I confirmed that what Jason was saying and what Sam was saying were not the same thing.” To be safe, she said, she made sure the form went over the board.

This is not the first time Altman has been accused of lying. Co-founder Ilya Sutskever, in part of a 52-page memo to OpenAI’s board of directors that It was read in the filingHe said Altman “demonstrates a consistent pattern of lying, undermining his executives, and pitting his executives against each other.” Former OpenAI Board Member Helen Toner, In podcast 2024 Briefly discussing Altman’s firing in November 2023, she also said that OpenAI executives shared evidence with Altman’s board of directors of “lying and manipulating in various situations.” Moratti agreed with Altman’s descriptions of pitting executives against each other and undermining her.

The board, when Altman was fired, He said that “He has not been consistently candid in his communications with the Board, which has hindered his ability to exercise his responsibilities. The Board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue to lead OpenAI.” (When Altman Asked before Edge Why he thought the board lost confidence in him, Altman said, “would be a better question for them.”)

Moratti was briefly appointed interim CEO after OpenAI’s board of directors fired Altman. However, in her testimony, she criticized the board’s decision and said “OpenAI was at catastrophic risk of collapse.” I left OpenAI In 2024 It was founded later Its OpenAI competitor, Thinking Machines Lab.