Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI entered its second week with fresh revelations about boardroom tensions and alleged poaching attempts. Shivon Zilis, Musk's business associate and board observer at the company, testified that Musk attempted to recruit Sam Altman away from OpenAI in 2017, court documents revealed. The disclosure complicates Musk's narrative of betrayal, suggesting his motivations extend beyond the broken promises he alleges.
Musk claims OpenAI co-founders Altman and Greg Brockman deceived him into donating $38 million by promising to keep the company nonprofit and aligned with his vision. He contends they later abandoned these commitments when OpenAI shifted toward its current profit-centric model through Microsoft partnership structures.
OpenAI's legal team aggressively countered, attacking Musk's credibility. They highlight his own failed attempts to control the organization, including the alleged Altman recruitment effort. The testimony suggests Musk's current suit stems partly from losing influence over the company he helped found, rather than purely philosophical disagreement about OpenAI's direction.
The trial centers on whether OpenAI violated its founding charter by becoming a de facto for-profit entity. Musk argues early commitments to open-source AI development and nonprofit governance were abandoned. OpenAI maintains it operates within its legal structure and that Musk's equity claims lack merit.
Zilis' testimony cuts both ways. While confirming Musk's dissatisfaction with OpenAI's trajectory, it also establishes that Musk actively pursued control and personnel moves that might themselves constitute breach attempts. This undermines arguments that his suit reflects purely altruistic concerns about AI safety and open access.
The case exposes deep fractures in OpenAI's founding partnership. It reveals how venture