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Sam Bankman-Fried's Defense Team Seeks to Question Caroline Ellison on Legal Counsel Dependence and FTX's Anthropic AI Stake Valuation

Sam Bankman-Fried's defense team has filed motions to question Caroline Ellison about her reliance on legal counsel while CEO of Alameda Research and the valuation of FTX's stake in Anthropic AI. Ellison is the star witness in the criminal fraud case against Bankman-Fried, and the defense wants to address the "advice-of-counsel" argument.

The defense also wants to question Ellison about her knowledge of FTX and Alameda lawyers' role in setting policies, such as activating auto-deletion tools on the messaging app Signal. The Department of Justice has opposed the defense's attempt to raise the topic of the current valuation of FTX investments, stating that it is immaterial to the case. The defense argues that the Anthropic news is important context about FTX's expected value analysis, and they should be able to ask broader questions about FTX's portfolio.

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