OpenAI Exec Alleges Musk Threatened Violence at Trial
An OpenAI executive testified in federal court that Elon Musk “was going to hit me” during a confrontation, according to testimony delivered in the ongoing Musk v. OpenAI trial, as reported by Yahoo News.
The allegation emerged in testimony in the lawsuit, which centers on OpenAI’s conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit corporate structure — a move Musk has challenged in court.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s co-founder and former president, also testified that Musk himself originally pushed for OpenAI to adopt a commercial model, according to trial proceedings. That testimony could undercut a central pillar of Musk’s legal argument — that OpenAI’s leadership betrayed the organization’s founding nonprofit mission by pursuing a for-profit conversion.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and departed the board in 2018, filed suit alleging that the company’s leadership abandoned its original charter to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than private shareholders. OpenAI announced plans to restructure as a for-profit public benefit corporation, a move that has drawn scrutiny from regulators, attorneys general, and now the federal courts.
The case centers on Musk’s challenge to OpenAI’s for-profit restructuring in federal court. A ruling could affect how AI organizations structure themselves and whether founding commitments to nonprofit governance are legally enforceable.
The trial continues in federal court. Neither OpenAI nor representatives for Musk have publicly commented on the specific testimony regarding the alleged physical threat as of press time.
