Musk in court: flat, unprepared, and oddly self-absorbed

Elon Musk was sworn in today as the first witness in Musk v. Altman, and I have to say — I was surprised by how flat he seemed.

This isn’t my first time seeing Musk in a courtroom. During his defamation suit a few years back, he turned on the full charm offensive. The jury ate it up and found him not guilty. Today was a different man. He looked adrift, unprepared. The only moments he showed any real energy were when he was bragging about how much he’d done for OpenAI.

Direct examination is basically storytelling through questions — you’re building a narrative, step by step. For a lawsuit that claims Sam Altman abandoned OpenAI’s mission, Musk spent a weird amount of time talking about himself. Recounting his own contributions, his own vision, his own sacrifices. It felt less like a case about betrayal and more like a monologue about how great he is.

I get it — ego is part of the package with Musk. But in a legal setting, that approach can backfire. Judges and juries don’t want to hear how indispensable you are; they want evidence and a coherent story. Today, Musk delivered neither. He came off as petty rather than prepared, more interested in settling scores than proving his case.

Maybe his legal team told him to stay low-key, or maybe he just had an off day. Either way, it wasn’t a strong opening for a case that already faces an uphill climb. If this is the best Musk can do on the stand, Altman’s lawyers have to be feeling pretty good right now.