OpenAI Cofounder Brockman Testifies Musk Sought 'Absolute Control' Over For-Profit Arm

In the second week of the trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI, president Greg Brockman testified that Musk had pushed for the creation of a for-profit entity and demanded majority equity and control over its board. Brockman told the jury that during negotiations in 2017, Musk wanted the right to choose a majority of board members and to serve as chief executive. Brockman recounted a heated meeting in August 2017 at Musk's home where the cofounders discussed the for-profit structure. He testified that when he and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever proposed equal shares, Musk declined, stood up, and "stormed around the table" before grabbing a painting of a Tesla and leaving. Brockman said the group could not accept handing Musk "unilateral, absolute control, potentially, over the AGI." Musk, who cofounded OpenAI in 2015 and left in 2018, alleges that Sam Altman and Brockman deceived him into donating $38 million by promising to keep the organization a nonprofit. He is seeking as much as $134 billion in damages and asking the court to unwind OpenAI's restructuring into a public benefit corporation. Musk's own AI company, xAI, is now a division of SpaceX and is expected to go public as early as June. Former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis testified that while Musk was still on the board, he tried to recruit Altman to lead a new artificial-intelligence lab at Tesla. A text from Musk shown in court stated there was "little chance of OpenAI being a serious force if I focus on TeslaAI." The trial's outcome could affect OpenAI's plans for an initial public offering at a valuation approaching $1 trillion. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Ilya Sutskever are scheduled to testify next week before closing arguments.