Musk vs. Altman: Burning Man, a "diary," and a trial almost no one thinks Musk can win

The most expensive frenemy fallout in tech history began Monday in a federal courtroom in Oakland. After over a decade of partnership, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is suing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for more than $130 billion, alleging that Altman and cofounder Greg Brockman swindled him and betrayed the company’s founding charitable mission. The chief complaint centers on Altman’s 2023 move to spin OpenAI’s core technology into a for-profit subsidiary, now valued at almost $1 trillion and which could go public as soon as late 2026. Musk, who donated about $38 million of OpenAI’s earliest funding, wants the judge to unwind the for-profit conversion, force Altman and Brockman out of their roles, and direct any damages to OpenAI’s nonprofit arm rather than to himself. He does not want any damages paid to him; rather, it appears his primary aim is to knock “Scam Altman”—his new nickname for his old friend—down.

To counter, an equally hurt Altman is expected to bring up all the dirt he has on Musk, including a Burning Man trip and a former OpenAI board member who is also the mother of four of Musk’s known 14 children. Pretrial documents have already unearthed raw text messages between the two powerhouses, including one from February 2023 in which Altman says, “You’re my hero,” before adding: “I am tremendously thankful for everything you’ve done to help—I don’t think OpenAI would have happened without you—and it really [expletive] hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI.” Musk’s reply, also now in evidence, reads: “I hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake.”