--- title: "Relationship Completely Ruptured! OpenAI Courtroom Debate Features Personal Attacks: Musk “Ignorant of AI and Volatile,” Altman “Unethical and Hypocritical”" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/285788860.md" description: "Former CTO Murati accused Altman of lying about safety approvals and creating managerial chaos; former board members described Altman as “habitually dishonest.” Altman’s camp countered that Musk is “ignorant of AI and emotionally unstable,” alleging he once flew into a rage and attempted physical violence during a meeting. The trial also revealed that OpenAI sacrificed safety principles to secure billions in investment from Microsoft, rendering its original non-profit mission nominal at best. Next week, Altman will testify in person, setting the stage for the final showdown" datetime: "2026-05-09T01:41:52.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/285788860.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285788860.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/285788860.md) --- # Relationship Completely Ruptured! OpenAI Courtroom Debate Features Personal Attacks: Musk “Ignorant of AI and Volatile,” Altman “Unethical and Hypocritical” A super AI giant valued at nearly $1 trillion is having its secrets completely exposed in a California courtroom. The century trial in which Elon Musk sued OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has entered its second week. What began as a serious commercial lawsuit concerning “the fate of humanity and AI safety” has veered sharply off course, devolving into a mutual tearing-apart among executives and personal attacks. The judge stated bluntly: > Ultimately, this trial comes down to whom the jury chooses to believe. And based on current court records, OpenAI’s former core founding team is laying bare their worst sides for the world to see, without reservation. ## Former CTO Reveals Altman’s “Toxic Culture” and Lies This was the most shocking moment for outsiders. Mira Murati, OpenAI’s former technical core who led the release of GPT-4 and ChatGPT, broke her silence in court. Her sudden departure in 2024 sparked countless speculations. In video depositions for this trial, she pointed the finger directly at her former boss, Altman. **Murati testified in court that Altman had lied to her directly regarding the safety approval process for new models.** At the time, Altman told her that Jason Kwon, head of the legal department, had stated that the new model did not need review by the safety committee. However, when Murati personally verified this, she found that the two accounts were “completely different.” Murati stated in court that Altman had long created “chaos and distrust” within the executive team. **He excelled at shrewd management tactics, selectively disclosing key information so that different executives received different versions of facts, blurring safety approval milestones, and ultimately ensuring that all decision-making power remained firmly in his hands.** Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, former board members who had ousted Altman, submitted similar testimonies. **They described the corporate culture created by Altman as a “toxic culture” characterized by “habitual lying and deceit.”** McCauley stated that Altman’s dishonesty triggered a “crisis event” every few months, and he had even spread false rumors to manipulate the board. Former Chief Scientist Ilya had previously detailed the chaos caused by Altman’s various lies in an email spanning dozens of pages. Wallstreetcn previously mentioned that Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic and co-founder of OpenAI, wrote in his private notes: > The problem with OpenAI is Sam himself. ## Counterattack on Musk: Ignorant of AI, an Emotionally Unstable “Hothead” Facing fierce attacks from Musk’s side, Altman’s camp launched a ruthless counteroffensive, targeting Musk’s professional competence and emotional control. Greg Brockman, current President of OpenAI, stated in court that as early as 2017, during internal power struggles at OpenAI, one of their “major concerns” was that Musk fundamentally lacked the technical capability to lead AI development. Brockman mocked him unreservedly in court: > Look, he knows rockets, he knows electric vehicles, but he doesn’t understand artificial intelligence, and I believe he still doesn’t understand it today. He pointed out that Musk was unwilling to spend time truly mastering AI technology. **Brockman also vividly depicted Musk’s “volatile temper” to the jury.** He recalled a meeting in August 2017 discussing restructuring, where Musk suddenly lost control of his emotions. > He stood up and stormed around the table. I genuinely thought he was going to hit me, truly believing he would physically attack me. In the end, Musk grabbed a painting gift he had just received, slammed the door, and stormed out. Wallstreetcn previously mentioned that on Wednesday, testimony from Shivon Zilis, Musk’s ex-girlfriend and a former OpenAI director, indirectly corroborated the breakdown in communication among executives. She admitted that Musk and the founding team were “sometimes very poor communicators,” and when facing thorny issues, **they would only dare to speak with him when he was in a “good mood and clear-headed.”** Zilis further testified that Musk had once hoped to merge OpenAI into Tesla and offered Altman a seat on Tesla’s board as leverage. **This testimony touches upon Musk’s core allegation that OpenAI betrayed its commitment to non-profit status.** ## Under the Pressure of $100 Million, Captured by Microsoft: The Original Intent Lost Setting aside the sensational grudges among executives, this trial actually reveals how OpenAI gradually abandoned its non-profit original intent of “benefiting all humanity,” becoming a vassal of capital. (OpenAI Charter: Its responsibility is to be accountable to all humanity) The trial revealed a key timeline: **In 2022, before the release of ChatGPT, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explicitly told Altman that OpenAI must achieve $100 million in revenue to qualify for Microsoft’s next $10 billion investment.** For the sake of this $10 billion, Altman accepted the conditions and set this as a core target, applying internal pressure. Former CTO Murati confirmed that the company began expanding its commercial system on a large scale to meet this figure. In the face of commercial interests, AI safety became nothing more than a complete facade. Former security researcher Rosie Campbell testified that as the company became increasingly product-centric, two teams specifically responsible for long-term AI safety were eventually disbanded. Even more ironic was OpenAI’s “Deployment Safety Board (DSB).” The rule design of this body, which was supposed to control the safe deployment of AI models, amounted to a “conspiracy”: **The committee consisted of six members, with Microsoft holding three seats and OpenAI holding three. Four votes were required for approval. Altman was one of OpenAI’s three members.** This meant that as long as “3 Microsoft members + Altman = 4 votes,” any model could be forcibly approved for deployment, rendering internal safety dissenters at OpenAI ineffective. To bypass procedures, Altman even lied directly to Murati, claiming that GPT-4 Turbo did not require DSB review. ## The Non-Profit Shell: Nominal in Name Only Musk’s assertion from years ago seems to be confirmed one by one in court: “OpenAI is no longer Open.” Today, OpenAI’s non-profit organization has become a shell with almost no real power or assets, holding only a 26% equity stake in the for-profit company. **All top talent, core technologies, and valuable assets have been transferred to the for-profit entity.** A scene bordering on the surreal played out in the courtroom. During five hours of testimony, OpenAI President Brockman personally admitted to every element of “unjust enrichment” and “breach of fiduciary duty.” However, when the plaintiff’s lawyer asked if he knew why he was being sued, he played dumb in front of the jury, repeatedly claiming he was “unclear.” When the lawyer directly accused him of “violating the charitable mission to develop safe AI in an open-source manner and not for personal profit,” Brockman could only offer a pale rebuttal: “We didn’t do that.” > Q: Did this lawsuit hinder your release of the new charter? > > Brockman: Honestly, I’ve never been quite sure what I’m being sued for. > > Q: You’re not sure? Have you read the complaint? > > Brockman: Very carefully. > > Q: They hired some very famous lawyers, well-known law firms—and they never explained to you why you are being sued? > > Brockman: I understand the allegations. I’ve seen how they have changed over time. But— > > Q: So you do understand? > > Brockman: I stand by my testimony. > > Q: I thought you said you didn’t understand why you were being sued. > > Brockman: That is indeed what I said. Yes. > > Q: Do you stand by that testimony? > > Brockman: Yes. > > Subsequently, Musk’s lawyer directly stated the allegations: Q: You are being sued because you breached your fiduciary duty to the charitable organization, failing to follow the mission you were announcing to the world on the website until just now. Do you understand? > > Brockman: Oh, I just disagree with that. > > Q: You are not entitled to disagree. I am asking you. You said you didn’t know why you were being sued, so now I am telling you: you are being sued for violating OPENAI’s charitable mission, which is to develop safe artificial general intelligence on an open-source basis to benefit humanity, with no individual profiting from it. Do you understand that this is why you are being sued? > > Brockman: That is not what we did. > > This layer-by-layer courtroom debate has reconstructed the full picture of the power games filled with lies and calculations within OpenAI. Next week, Altman, at the center of the storm, will testify in person. 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