In the trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI, the final round of closing arguments came down to one question - can the people building artificial intelligence be trusted? Jurors are now deciding whether OpenAI breached some obligation when it mutated from a nonprofit into several different structures on the road to profit. The answer will carry weight far beyond this trial.

Musk's attorney, Steve Molo, aimed at the main fracture - the inconsistency of Sam Altman's statements. Asked about his testimony before Congress, where Altman said he had no shares in OpenAI, he answered that everyone understood the rules - he held a passive investment through the Y Combinator fund. He read this as "no shares." Musk's lawyers read it differently.

Journalist Kirsten Korosec, on a podcast discussion, looked at the problem more broadly. "This is a fundamental question for tech journalists, regulators and consumers - for all AI labs," she said, stressing that private companies keep transparency to a minimum. When companies with 900 billion dollar valuations operate almost in fog, the duty of truth is not just ethical - it is economic.

The contrast between the two leaders is interesting. Musk, Korosec noted, has a history of false claims on Twitter, but in court - he was combative and direct. Altman was muted, conciliatory, constantly signaling that he was "working on it." Two approaches that say something about different personal stances on accountability - but both end in the same place: doubt.

A podcast guest, Sean O'Kane, summarized what many in the industry think: "I don't believe him." That is not just a personal verdict. It is a stance that is spreading wherever there is financial interest - among investors, users, and regulators. The trust question will be a central part of future AI lab IPOs, and the answers so far do not sound convincing.

For the Balkans, this question is not far away. The same companies Europe leans on for tools in work, education, and healthcare are the same ones who, in a courtroom, cannot guarantee the honesty of their own statements. When regulators in Brussels are ready to act - and they already are, through the AI Act - the scene in California will be one of the key legal arguments.