Musk sued his OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging they had violated a promise to keep their company a nonprofit.
Elon Musk's lead counsel, Steven Molo, apologized to the jury for his absence on Thursday, with the Tesla CEO accompanying President Donald Trump in China as closing arguments were made in the Musk-Altman trial.
"This is something he is passionate about," Molo assured the jury about Musk's attention to the trial.
The trial in federal court stems from a lawsuit Musk brought against his OpenAI co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging they had violated a promise to keep their company a nonprofit, and had unjustly enriched themselves by restructuring the business.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had previously placed Musk on "recall status," meaning he was supposed to be available to return to the court, if needed, to testify on short notice, as NBC previously reported.
Witnesses in a trial would normally need to submit a motion for permission to travel and wait for a judge to grant that motion before traveling far away.
A spokesperson for the court said they did not know if Musk obtained permission to travel. Musk's attorneys did not respond to a request for information about whether they cleared his travel with the judge or consulted with Musk regarding his travel.
Musk traveled with Trump before closing arguments were underway to Beijing, after being invited by President Donald Trump to join him for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Besides the Tesla and Space X chief, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were part of Trump's delegation.
Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.
Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.
© 2026 Versant Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. A Versant Media Company.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes.
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.
