OpenAI's Brockman says Musk was going to hit him and rebuts history at trial

technology artificial intelligence legal proceedings

OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman concluded his testimony on Tuesday during the second week of a month-long trial between the AI startup and Elon Musk. The legal battle centers on a civil lawsuit alleging that Chief Executive Sam Altman and the company sacrificed their original nonprofit mission.

During the proceedings, Brockman disclosed that his stake in the company is worth nearly $30 billion. Musk has invoked this windfall in his argument that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit goals. Brockman testified that Musk was eager to change how the company operated as a nonprofit and described a tense confrontation between them regarding potential equity shares.

Brockman also revealed a fiery meeting with Musk and subsequent efforts to remove several board members. He testified that Musk called a predecessor to ChatGPT stupid, claiming that kids on the internet could do a better job of it. These comments led co-founders to worry that the billionaire lacked the patience to run the company.

As the trial moves forward, Chief Executive Sam Altman is expected to testify as early as next week.

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