Elon Musk Flees to China, Lawyer Apologises to Judge
Elon Musk Flees to China, Lawyer Apologises to Judge
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The boss of Tesla and xAI, Elon Musk, is once again in the spotlight. He has left the United States for China amid the escalating lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.
Musk’s departure occurred as the legal proceedings he initiated against OpenAI began to turn against him. Previously, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had placed Musk in a “recall” status, meaning he must be prepared to be called back at any time to provide testimony in court.
However, Musk was reportedly seen flying to China with US President Donald Trump on an official diplomatic visit.
In the closing session held today, Musk’s lead lawyer, Steven Molo, opened his arguments with an apology for the billionaire’s absence.
“He regrets not being able to attend,” Molo said in court, as quoted by The Verge, Friday (15/5/2026).
According to an exclusive report by NBC News, Musk never obtained official permission from the judge to travel abroad while still under recall. Although there was no explicit prohibition on travelling, Musk’s move is considered legally risky.
Vanderbilt University law professor, Jeffrey Bellin, said that such actions are unusual for a trial witness.
“An ordinary witness would not leave the country if they were under recall,” Bellin told NBC News.
“If I were his lawyer, I would make sure that if my witness is under recall and he has left the country, the judge must agree,” he added.
During his testimony in court, Musk appeared emotional and defensive when answering questions from the opposing lawyer. He even described some of the questions asked to him as “very complex”.
In the trial, Musk was also deemed to have failed to defend some of his previous claims, including those related to the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) at Tesla and the amount of funds he had previously invested in OpenAI.
He also admitted that he had not read in detail the OpenAI restructuring documents shared by Altman. In addition, Musk seemed to have difficulty explaining the relationship between Shivon Zilis, a former member of the OpenAI board and also his former staff, who is known to be the mother of some of his children.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers even ordered Musk to stop commenting on the trial on social media during the legal process.
The feud between Musk and OpenAI has been going on for quite some time. Musk sued the AI company because he believes OpenAI has deviated from its initial mission as a non-profit organisation focused on developing artificial intelligence for the public good.