Musk texted OpenAI chief, said he and Altman would be hated men

Elon Musk contacted OpenAI President Greg Brockman two days before their federal trial began, probing whether the sides might settle before jurors or a judge weighed the future of one of the most influential companies in artificial intelligence. When Brockman suggested that both sides drop their claims, Musk allegedly replied: “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be.”

The exchange, disclosed in a new court filing on Sunday, sharpened the stakes in the fight over OpenAI’s identity and governance. The case is being heard in federal court in Oakland, California, before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, and it centers on Musk’s 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman and Brockman. Musk argues that OpenAI abandoned the original nonprofit mission he helped fund in 2015 before he left the board in 2018.

The filing lands in the middle of a trial that could shape more than the fortunes of Musk and Altman. A ruling in the case could influence how mission-driven AI companies structure themselves, how they raise capital and how far a lab can move toward a for-profit model before triggering major legal consequences. OpenAI’s current value has been reported at $852 billion, a figure that underscores how much is at stake in the dispute over control, governance and the company’s long-term direction.

Musk has already spent more than seven hours over three days testifying in the first week of trial, giving the case an unusually personal edge even as the legal fight centers on corporate structure and fiduciary purpose. Brockman could be called to testify as soon as Monday, and Altman, Brockman and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella are expected to testify later this month, extending the courtroom conflict into the upper ranks of the AI industry.

For OpenAI, the text message exchange adds a political and strategic layer to a case that is already about leverage. It suggests that Musk was still weighing settlement as the trial approached, even while pressing a public case built on the claim that OpenAI betrayed its founding mission. In a battle over who gets to define the rules for artificial intelligence, the fight is now about more than one company. It is about who controls the institutions that will shape the industry’s next phase.