In a packed Oakland federal courtroom, OpenAI President Greg Brockman stared down Elon Musk’s lawyers this week, painting a picture of a co-founder obsessed with control. Brockman testified that Musk pushed for a for-profit shift as early as 2017. But only on his terms. Full control. Majority stake. Enough to bankroll an $80 billion Mars city. Reuters captured the moment: “He said he needed $80 billion to create a city on Mars,” Brockman told the jury. “In the end, he needed full control.”
The trial, now in its second week before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, hinges on Musk’s claim that OpenAI betrayed its nonprofit roots. He co-founded the lab in 2015 with Brockman, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever to counter Google’s AI dominance. Musk pledged $1 billion but delivered $38 million. Tensions boiled over two years later. OpenAI’s Dota 2 victory that summer electrified the team. Musk emailed the founders: “Time to make the next step for OpenAI. This is the triggering event.” WebProNews.
At Musk’s lakeside party house near Seattle, the group hashed out a for-profit pivot. Nonprofits couldn’t raise billions for AI compute, they agreed. Brockman texted Shivon Zilis, Musk’s close aide: the nonprofit “was def the right one early on, may not be the right one now.” But Musk demanded CEO powers and board dominance. He argued his track record at Tesla and SpaceX justified it. Rejected. He stormed out. Brockman later said, “I thought he was going to hit me. I thought he was going to physically attack me.” New York Times.
Musk paused funding. Asked Brockman point-blank: “When will you be departing OpenAI?” Emails show he envisioned “unequivocally initial control” that would “change quickly.” Brockman entered his 2017 journal notes as evidence. Converting without Musk? “Pretty morally bankrupt.” Yet Musk’s lawyers flipped those notes against him. One entry mused: “maybe we should just flip to a for-profit. making money for us sounds great.” Wall Street Journal.
So why sue now? Musk seeks $150 billion in damages. Unwind OpenAI’s for-profit arm. Boot Altman and Brockman. He calls it a charity scam. OpenAI launched a “capped-profit” entity in 2019, post-Musk’s 2018 exit. Microsoft poured in $13 billion. The nonprofit retains oversight; investors recoup costs up to $250 billion before returns cap. Valuation hit $852 billion. Brockman revealed plans for $50 billion in compute spending this year alone. Reuters.
Musk testified first. Admitted xAI “distills” OpenAI models. Warned AI could “kill us all.” Judge Rogers cut off his doomsday tangents. His team hammered Brockman’s finances: nearly $30 billion stake, ties to Altman’s family office. Days before opening arguments on April 27, Musk texted Brockman about settling. Brockman offered mutual dismissal. Musk shot back: “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America.” The judge barred it from evidence but allowed public filing. Reuters.
Day seven brought Shivon Zilis to the stand. Musk’s former aide and mother of four of his children. She detailed 2017 emails. Musk conditioned resumed nonprofit funding on board seats matching his two-thirds contributions—at least five of ten. Two-year commitments from Brockman and Sutskever. Twelve-month nonsolicit. Co-founders balked. Preferred fundraising to avoid Musk’s grip. Zilis confirmed: they never agreed. Musk even floated merging with Tesla to solve funding while delaying AGI. Sutskever wanted independence for recruiting. X posts from trial watchers like @muskonomy amplified these exchanges in real time.
Brockman shot back on Musk’s AI chops. “He did not—and I believe does not—know AI.” Dismissed early models like a ChatGPT precursor as “stupid.” Kids online outperformed them, Musk said. OpenAI’s defense stresses mission over profit. The nonprofit controls the for-profit. Capped returns prioritize AGI safety.
Analysts tilt toward OpenAI. Contracts lack perpetuity clauses. Vague promises. Nine jurors advise on remedies: revert nonprofit? Remove leaders? Payout? Verdict eyed mid-May. OpenAI mulls IPO. xAI pushes ahead. Microsoft watches its stake. But fractures run deep. Musk’s aggression in 2017 echoes today. Brockman’s fear. Pre-trial threats. Trust shattered long ago. Bloomberg.
And the irony? Musk now runs xAI, chasing the same AGI he once funded. OpenAI spends $50 billion on chips. Tesla pivots to robots. The fight exposes AI’s core tension: open access versus locked vaults. Nonprofits starve for compute. Profits fuel the race. Musk wanted both. Got neither at OpenAI. Now he wants it all back—in court.
