Musk v. Altman week 2: OpenAI fires back, and Shivon Zilis reveals that Musk tried to poach Sam Altman

The second week of the landmark trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI featured explosive testimony from OpenAI president Greg Brockman and former board member Shivon Zilis. Brockman testified that Musk was the driving force behind creating a for-profit arm in 2017, after OpenAI's Dota 2 victory. He said Musk demanded majority equity, board control, and the CEO role—contradicting Musk's claim that he was deceived into donating $38 million to a nonprofit. Zilis revealed that Musk attempted to poach Sam Altman to lead an AI lab at Tesla. Musk's lawyer also read a text where Musk threatened that Altman and Brockman would become "the most hated men in America" if they didn't settle.

The trial's outcome could reshape the AI industry. Musk is seeking up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, and wants the court to unwind OpenAI's restructuring into a public benefit corporation. That could derail OpenAI's IPO at a valuation approaching $1 trillion. Meanwhile, Musk's own AI company xAI, now part of SpaceX, is expected to go public as early as June with a $1.75 trillion target. Dramatic moments included Brockman entering hand-in-hand with his wife, and Musk storming out with a Tesla painting. Protesters sang hymns outside the courthouse as legal teams sparred over the future of AI governance.