Elon Musk reached out OpenAI’s top leadership before the Oakland trial to settle case.
According to CNBC, filling late on Sunday, May 3, revealed that two days before the multi-billion dollar lawsuit, SpaceX boss texted OpenAI’s president, Greg Brockman, to gauge his interest in a settlement.
The filing says, “When Mr. Brockman responded with a suggestion that both sides drop their respective claims, Mr. Musk shot back: ‘By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be.”
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the company, Brockman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2024, alleging they went back on their commitment to keep the artificial intelligence company a nonprofit and to follow its charitable mission.
Trial proceedings kicked off late last month in federal court in Oakland, California, and Brockman could be called to testify as soon as Monday.
OpenAI’s lawyers moved to enter Musk’s text into evidence and suggested they plan to bring it up while Brockman is on the stand.
The lawyers wrote in the filing, “It tends to prove motive and bias, and, in particular, that Mr. Musk’s motivation in pursuing this lawsuit is to attack a competitor and its principals.”
Musk took the witness stand last week, and his testimony dominated the trial’s first week of proceedings. Over the course of three days, he answered questions about his role in launching OpenAI and repeatedly accused Altman and Brockman of trying to “steal a charity.”
He also answered questions about his competing AI startup, xAI, which he founded five years after departing OpenAI’s board in 2018.
Musk merged xAI with his rocket company SpaceX in February in a deal that valued the startup at $250 billion.
