Musk's China trip during OpenAI trial prompts apology from his lawyer for his absence

In a surprising turn of events, Elon Musk's absence from the courtroom during critical closing arguments in the Musk-Altman trial has raised eyebrows. His lead attorney, Steven Molo, took the opportunity to express regret to the jury for Musk's unavailability, explaining that the Tesla CEO was in China accompanying former President Donald Trump. This high-stakes trial revolves around a lawsuit Musk filed against his OpenAI co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Musk accuses them of breaching an agreement to maintain their company as a nonprofit and of enriching themselves through a controversial business restructuring. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had previously designated Musk as being on "recall status," indicating he was expected to be available for potential testimony at short notice. Typically, witnesses must request permission from the court to travel, and it's unclear whether Musk received such approval for his trip. Court officials stated they were uncertain if Musk had obtained the necessary permissions before leaving. Furthermore, Musk's legal team has not commented on whether they coordinated his travel plans with the judge or discussed them with Musk. The trip included notable figures such as Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who were also part of Trump's delegation meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.