OpenAI vs. Musk trial heats up: Brockman testifies he thought Musk was going to hit him

OpenAI vs. Musk: Brockman Testifies of Tense Confrontation Over Equity

Greg Brockman took the stand in the ongoing trial and delivered testimony that landed squarely on the control dispute at the heart of the case. The dramatic centerpiece: a meeting in which Musk became visibly angry over equity structure negotiations, stood up, stormed around the table, and Brockman thought he was about to be hit.

According to Brockman's account, the meeting included himself, Ilya Sutskever, and Musk. Conversation turned to equity and Musk's proposed structure, which would have given him majority control. Brockman describes the shift: "He was angry. You could sense it." After sitting quietly, Musk said he declined the proposed even split of equity structure and control, stood up, stormed around the table. "I actually thought he was going to hit me," Brockman testified. He then asked when Brockman and Sutskever were departing OpenAI. Both said they were staying. Musk left.

The broader contention Brockman pressed in testimony: Musk lacks the depth of knowledge in AI to properly assess the field's capabilities. Brockman recounts one instance where Musk berated an AI researcher so intensely during a demo that the researcher nearly quit the industry entirely. Brockman's framing is direct—Musk "knows rockets, he knows electric cars, he did not and does not know AI."

Context matters here. Earlier in the trial, emails between Brockman and Sutskever surfaced in which Sutskever warned Brockman not to let a gift—free Tesla vehicles Musk had given them—cloud judgment on equity negotiations. Sutskever's message: compartmentalize the cars; what's at stake is control of technology that could shape humanity's future. The trial has also centered extensively on Brockman's personal journal, which he describes as stream-of-consciousness notes never intended for public view, used to puzzle through contradictory concepts in real time rather than final decisions.