meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Business Daily

Musk v Altman: Tech bros battle

Business Daily

BBC

Business

4.4816 Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2026

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A California jury tossed out Elon Musk's high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman. But who actually wins and what does this public row mean for the reputation of their companies? Michelle Fleury and Rahul Tandon are joined by the BBC's Lily Jamali, who spent weeks in court following the twists and turns in a battle of the tech titans.

Producer: Gideon Long

You can email us: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

(Photo: A combination photo shows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (L) and Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) during a trial at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, US. Credit: Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

So two of the most powerful men in the tech world walk into a courtroom in California.

0:11.1

One of them wins. But which one?

0:13.3

I can't believe you're starting this show with a dad joke.

0:16.4

Well, listen, it's better than most of my other jokes.

0:19.9

We are, of course, talking about on the one side, Elon Musk, one of the most powerful tech figures in the world. On the other, Michelle?

0:28.3

Sam Altman from Open AI. I mean, this is like a divorce playing out and it's kind of parents fighting over who gets the good silver, although in this case, of course, we're talking about AI.

0:39.2

Yeah, well, if you keep criticising my jokes, we could have some sort of divorce later on in this programme.

0:44.1

I think what we're going to look at on this edition of Business Daily is the reputational damage to both men.

0:53.4

I'm Rahul Tandon in the BBC studios here in the UK.

0:57.5

And I'm Michelle Flurry in New York.

0:59.4

And I have an empty chair next to me, Michelle, where Will Bain would normally be.

1:03.5

He's gone off to watch some football in Istanbul, waste his money there.

1:06.4

So who have we got instead this week then, Michelle?

1:09.4

We have Lily Jamali, our very own North America technology correspondent,

1:14.3

joining us with all of the kind of detail and gossip from the proceedings.

1:19.4

I'm the one who's been cackling in the background to your dad jokes this whole time.

1:25.0

I thought they were funny.

1:26.4

Yeah. Do you know what? Lily,

1:27.7

you can come back on any time. We don't need to Michelle on every week. If you ask me,

1:32.7

for those who don't know, Lily, give us the background to this case. Why were these two

1:37.6

powerful individuals who shape our life in court? Well, it was Elon Musk who brought all of us

1:43.7

together as part of this lawsuit that he filed in court. Well, it was Elon Musk who brought all of us together as part of this lawsuit

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 12 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.