1. What you'll lose0/5

   Nothing taken.

2. Condescension0/5

   None.

3. Tone-deafness3/5

   Asked about his robot army, answered with extinction; the judge called a break.

4. Doom5/5

   'Where AI will kill us all.'

5. Hypocrisy2/5

   Six months earlier he said he wanted to 'build this enormous robot army'.

Full time10 pitchforksof a possible 25

The occasion

Testimony in Musk v. Altman (his lawsuit against OpenAI), US District Court, Oakland, 30 April 2026.

Context

Questioned by his own lawyer about his wish to build an army of robots, Musk gave this answer. The judge cut in to call a break and, once the jury had left the room, told Musk and his lawyers the court would not 'talk much about extinction in this case'. On the Tuesday he had told the jury 'We don't want to have a Terminator outcome' (NPR). TechRadar reports the same testimony as 'The biggest risk would be that AI kills us all'.

Crowd reaction

Critical commentary

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told Musk and his lawyers: 'We are not going to talk much about extinction in this case. They got it, that's enough' (The Guardian). The A.V. Club's headline says the judge told him to 'knock it off with all the Terminator talk' and quotes her: 'It's ironic your client, despite these risks, is creating a company that is in the exact space'.

See the reaction

• The Guardian: Judge cuts off Musk's AI doomsday talk as his testimony ends in OpenAI case
• TechRadar: 'The worst-case situation is where it is a Terminator situation' — Elon Musk invokes killer robots in OpenAI trial
• The A.V. Club: OpenAI trial judge tells Elon Musk to knock it off with all the Terminator talk
• SFist: In OpenAI Trial, Elon Musk Really Wants Jury to Know That AI Might Kill Us All
• NPR: Elon Musk testifies against OpenAI, seeking Sam Altman's ouster
• Where the exact words are printed