How Shivon Zilis Operated as Elon Musk’s OpenAI Insider
Texts show she offered to stay close to OpenAI to 'keep info flowing' for Musk.
In the first week of the Musk v. Altman trial, Shivon Zilis has been revealed as Elon Musk's covert insider at OpenAI. Zilis, a longtime Musk employee and mother to four of his children, joined OpenAI as an adviser in 2016 and later served on its nonprofit board from 2020 to 2023. Court evidence shows she maintained a dual role—acting as a trusted confidant for OpenAI's leadership while feeding information to Musk even years after he left the board in February 2018.
Key text messages presented in court show Zilis asking Musk: 'Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate?' Musk responded, 'Close and friendly,' and added he would actively recruit three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. Zilis also helped negotiate early corporate structure changes and shared internal updates on fundraising and AI projects. Musk testified that Zilis never shared sensitive information, but the texts suggest a coordinated intelligence-gathering operation.
- Shivon Zilis was both OpenAI board member and Musk's close adviser, mother to four of his children.
- In 2018, she texted Musk asking if she should 'stay close and friendly' to keep information flowing; Musk said yes.
- Zilis helped negotiate OpenAI's corporate restructuring in 2017 and later updated Musk on internal developments.
Why It Matters
Reveals how personal relationships and loyalty can blur lines in high-stakes AI governance and corporate competition.