OpenAI President Greg Brockman told a California jury Tuesday that Elon Musk physically threatened him during a 2017 confrontation, testifying that the billionaire stormed out after he was refused absolute control of the artificial intelligence company.
"I actually thought he was going to hit me," Brockman said.
The testimony came on the second day of Brockman's appearance at the trial of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, in which the Tesla and SpaceX founder accuses the company of betraying its original nonprofit mission.
According to Musk, the company pivoted to a for-profit structure and misappropriated his $38 million founding donation to build a company now valued at more than $850 billion.
OpenAI counters that Musk left voluntarily after failing to seize majority control and has since become the company's direct competitor through his own AI venture, xAI.
Under cross-examination by OpenAI attorney Sarah Eddy, Brockman sought to reframe diary entries that Musk's lawyers had used the previous day to portray him as a calculating opportunist.
One November 2017 entry read: "It'd be wrong to steal the non-profit from him... That'd be pretty morally bankrupt."
"It's very painful, very deeply personal writings that were never meant for the world to see, but there's nothing in there I'm ashamed of," Brockman said in court.
Brockman also testified that when Musk announced his departure from OpenAI in February 2018, he told staff he intended to pursue AI development inside Tesla without regard for safety.
"If the sheep are dictating safety and the wolves are not, then there's no purpose," Brockman said Musk allegedly told employees at the time.
Source: Drudge Report
