How Elon Musk Squeezed OpenAI: They 'Are Gonna Want to Kill Me’
Elon Musk faced intense cross-examination in the Musk v. Altman trial, where OpenAI's lawyers highlighted his attempts to gain control and influence over the organization in 2017. Emails revealed Musk demanded board control, halted promised funding, and pursued hiring key OpenAI researchers for Tesla and Neuralink. Musk defended his actions, claiming he was within legal rights and that employees chose to leave OpenAI voluntarily.
- ▪Musk demanded control of OpenAI's for-profit board by insisting on appointing four members, more than the founders combined.
- ▪He stopped quarterly $5 million payments to OpenAI in 2017, despite a $1 billion funding pledge made at the organization’s launch.
- ▪Musk directed Tesla and Neuralink executives to recruit OpenAI employees, including Andrej Karpathy, acknowledging OpenAI staff would be angry.
- ▪He texted Shivon Zilis about actively moving several OpenAI employees to Tesla while she remained on OpenAI’s board.
- ▪Musk argued that restricting hiring from OpenAI would be illegal and maintained that employees were free to choose their employers.
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Maxwell ZeffParesh DaveBusinessApr 29, 2026 7:41 PMHow Elon Musk Squeezed OpenAI: They 'Are Gonna Want to Kill Me’Tensions flared on the third day of trial in Musk v. Altman as OpenAI’s lawyers cross-examined Musk.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyElon Musk returned to the witness stand on Wednesday to continue telling his side of the story in his legal battle against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. Under cross-examination from OpenAI’s lawyers, Musk was pressed on all the ways he tried to squeeze the organization over a 2017 power struggle that he ultimately lost.
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