OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified Tuesday that he feared Elon Musk would physically attack him during a 2017 confrontation, an allegation that reframes the billionaire's lawsuit against the company as a personal vendetta as much as a corporate dispute.
"I thought he was going to hit me," Brockman told a jury in Oakland federal court, according to BBC reporting. The OpenAI co-founder said Musk "stormed around the table" after learning he would not get the controlling stake and CEO role he demanded.
Musk is seeking more than $100 billion in damages from OpenAI, arguing the company betrayed its nonprofit mission by pursuing commercial partnerships. But Brockman's testimony, delivered during the second week of the month-long trial, painted the Tesla CEO as someone who turned hostile when he didn't get his way. The confrontation stemmed from a meeting in August 2017 where Brockman, Sam Altman, and co-founder Ilya Sutskever told Musk they would each receive founding shares. If Musk wanted more. He could pay market price.
Business Insider reported that Musk demanded a 51% equity stake and the CEO title.
"Something just shifted in him. It was like, you could just sense it. And he was angry," Brockman testified. Musk sat in silence for several minutes before saying, "I decline." The tension escalated after an earlier victory celebration at Musk's San Francisco mansion, where the team had toasted OpenAI's Dota 2 bot beating a top player. Actor Amber Heard, Musk's girlfriend at the time, served whiskey as the group discussed the company's for-profit future.
Musk told the founders he deserved control because he had "started the most multi-billion-dollar companies in history" and could launch a rival AI venture "in one tweet."
Brockman also testified about Musk offering free Tesla vehicles, which he believed was an attempt to influence him. In a text message presented in court, Brockman was asked whether the car would make him "willing to accept massively unfavorable terms." The testimony shifted focus to OpenAI's board dynamics. Brockman said former board member Shivon Zilis, who had children with Musk, was in a position to communicate information to him.
Zilis stepped down after Musk launched his competing AI company, xAI, and is expected to testify next.
OpenAI attorney William Savitt characterized the cross-examination as "an exercise in a frustrated lawyer yelling at a witness who wasn't saying what he wanted him to." He added: "It's a lesson here about how tough it can be when you actually meet your heroes."
Brockman also disclosed that OpenAI expects to spend roughly $50 billion on computing power in 2026, up from about $30 million in 2017, as the company develops more advanced AI models and serves ChatGPT to a growing user base.
