Just days before the trial was to begin, Elon Musk tried to settle his lawsuit, which alleged that under the direction of Sam Altman, OpenAI abandoned its mission of serving as a non-profit creating AI to benefit humanity.
According to a court filing Sunday on behalf of OpenAI, Musk messaged OpenAI President Greg Brockman two days before the trial to “gauge interest” in a potential agreement. Brockman immediately responded by suggesting that “both sides” drop their claims. But Musk refused, then the threat escalated so much that the court could allow Brockman to testify on the message as evidence that would reveal Musk’s true motives in order to move the case forward.
“By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated people in America,” Musk responded to Brockman’s suggestion to refute all claims. “If you insist, this will happen.”
OpenAI apparently did not accept the settlement terms, as the trial began with Musk taking the first witness stand last week. On the stand, Musk faltered at times, perhaps making concessions, being hot-tempered, weakening his case by endorsing claims that AI risks could soon come into existence, and admitting his ignorance when it comes to AI safety at his own company, XAI.
If accepted, his alleged threat could become the next big hurdle for him, as Brockman – whom Musk also wants to oust at OpenAI – will be allowed to testify about the message today and tomorrow, possibly when he takes the stand.
Typically, communication during a proposed settlement is not acceptable, but there is potential for additional frustration for Musk, with OpenAI pointing to an exception made during Musk’s unsuccessful lawsuit to back out of the Twitter purchase.
In that 2022 case, Musk’s legal team invited a “reconsideration” of the Twitter purchase price “so that the lawsuit can be dismissed”, while threatening that if Musk was forced to buy Twitter at the price set by Musk based on the 420 jokes, “it would literally be World War III by the end of time” for Twitter leaders and “their heirs”. During that exchange, Musk reportedly tried to make Twitter executives uncomfortable by reminding them that if he “became the owner of this thing, he would have access to all the records of the company and he could go through everybody’s emails and dig up whatever he wants.”
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