tech
May 15, 2026
Musk v. Altman accomplished nothing but airing dirty laundry
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TL;DR
- Elon Musk's lawyer struggled during closing arguments, making factual errors and requiring corrections from the judge.
- OpenAI's lawyer presented evidence chronologically, suggesting reliability issues with witnesses and highlighting a comment about Musk's ex-partner not backing his story.
- Gossip revealed during the trial includes Musk using OpenAI models to improve xAI, Musk's past failures in AI, Sam Altman's past consideration of running for governor, and an obsession with Demis Hassabis.
- Musk reportedly lost his temper during cross-examination, contrary to his claim of never losing his temper.
- Mira Murati is described as playing both sides during the Altman ouster, and the trial revealed Musk's alleged desire for his children to inherit OpenAI.
- Sam Altman's lawyer, William Savitt, is noted for his effective cross-examination, previously having success against Musk on Twitter.
- OpenAI engineers reportedly worked on Tesla's self-driving software while employed by OpenAI.
- Shivon Zillis did not initially disclose Musk as the father of her children to fellow board members or even her father.
- There are rumors of secret conversations on Twitter DMs due to distrust of Demis Hassabis.
- A desire was expressed for OpenAI not to become like IBM or Microsoft.
- A 'jackass trophy' was mentioned as something jurors didn't get to see.
- The author concludes that Elon Musk 'sucks at AI', citing xAI's financial struggles, researcher exodus, and reliance on other models.
- Zilis's past concerns about Musk's understanding of AI/AGI were highlighted, with the author agreeing with these concerns.