HomeMusk Considered Leaving OpenAI to His Kids as Altman Testifies
This morning, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand to address former co-founder Elon Musk’s lawsuit challenging the company’s corporate structure.
When asked about Musk’s claim that other founders “stole a charity” by launching a for-profit subsidiary to market AI-based products, Altman responded with visible hesitation.
“It’s hard to even process that framing,” Altman said after a pause. “We established one of the world’s largest charities. The foundation is doing incredible work and will continue to do much more.”
Musk’s legal team highlighted that OpenAI’s foundation, now holding assets worth approximately $200 billion, did not employ full-time staff until earlier this year. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor testified today that this delay was due to the difficulty of converting OpenAI equity into cash, a process completed during the organization’s 2025 restructuring.
Musk’s lawyers argue that safety commitments were compromised as OpenAI’s commercial influence expanded. However, Altman stated that in 2017, during a critical funding phase for AI models, Musk’s “specific safety plans raised concerns.”
Altman recalled a “particularly alarming” moment in debates when Musk was asked what would happen if he died while controlling a hypothetical for-profit OpenAI. According to Altman, Musk replied, “maybe OpenAI should pass to my children.”
Altman explained that Musk’s focus on controlling the initial for-profit entity was concerning because OpenAI was committed to preventing advanced AI from falling under a single individual’s control. Drawing on his experience running Y Combinator, Altman noted that “founders with control rarely relinquish it.”
Altman also testified that Musk’s management style, effective in engineering and manufacturing, was unsuitable for OpenAI.
“I don’t believe Mr. Musk understood how to run a successful research lab,” Altman said. “He demotivated several key researchers. At one point, he required Greg and Ilya to list researchers, rank their accomplishments, and cut staff with a ‘chainsaw.’ This caused significant long-term damage to the organization’s culture.”
Altman positioned himself as defending the “sweat equity” of co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, who effectively ran OpenAI while Musk and Altman held other positions.
After this dispute remained unresolved, Musk left OpenAI’s board and launched competing AI initiatives at Tesla and his own startup, xAI. Nevertheless, Altman maintained contact with the unpredictable businessman, providing updates on OpenAI’s progress and seeking his funding and advice.
OpenAI’s lawyers pointed out that Musk was kept informed and invited to participate in investments that his lawsuits now claim corrupted the non-profit.
During a 2018 discussion about a Microsoft investment in OpenAI, Altman described it as “a good vibes meeting,” noting that Musk spent a “long conversation showing us memes on his phone.”
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This morning, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand to address former co-founder Elon Musk’s lawsuit challenging the company’s corporate structure.
When asked about Musk’s claim that other founders “stole a charity” by launching a for-profit subsidiary to market AI-based products, Altman responded with visible hesitation.
“It’s hard to even process that framing,” Altman said after a pause. “We established one of the world’s largest charities. The foundation is doing incredible work and will continue to do much more.”
Musk’s legal team highlighted that OpenAI’s foundation, now holding assets worth approximately $200 billion, did not employ full-time staff until earlier this year. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor testified today that this delay was due to the difficulty of converting OpenAI equity into cash, a process completed during the organization’s 2025 restructuring.
Musk’s lawyers argue that safety commitments were compromised as OpenAI’s commercial influence expanded. However, Altman stated that in 2017, during a critical funding phase for AI models, Musk’s “specific safety plans raised concerns.”
Altman recalled a “particularly alarming” moment in debates when Musk was asked what would happen if he died while controlling a hypothetical for-profit OpenAI. According to Altman, Musk replied, “maybe OpenAI should pass to my children.”
Altman explained that Musk’s focus on controlling the initial for-profit entity was concerning because OpenAI was committed to preventing advanced AI from falling under a single individual’s control. Drawing on his experience running Y Combinator, Altman noted that “founders with control rarely relinquish it.”
Altman also testified that Musk’s management style, effective in engineering and manufacturing, was unsuitable for OpenAI.
“I don’t believe Mr. Musk understood how to run a successful research lab,” Altman said. “He demotivated several key researchers. At one point, he required Greg and Ilya to list researchers, rank their accomplishments, and cut staff with a ‘chainsaw.’ This caused significant long-term damage to the organization’s culture.”
Altman positioned himself as defending the “sweat equity” of co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, who effectively ran OpenAI while Musk and Altman held other positions.
After this dispute remained unresolved, Musk left OpenAI’s board and launched competing AI initiatives at Tesla and his own startup, xAI. Nevertheless, Altman maintained contact with the unpredictable businessman, providing updates on OpenAI’s progress and seeking his funding and advice.
OpenAI’s lawyers pointed out that Musk was kept informed and invited to participate in investments that his lawsuits now claim corrupted the non-profit.
During a 2018 discussion about a Microsoft investment in OpenAI, Altman described it as “a good vibes meeting,” noting that Musk spent a “long conversation showing us memes on his phone.”
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