OpenAI president Greg Brockman testified in federal court on Tuesday that Elon Musk physically intimidated him during a 2017 meeting at Musk's Hillsborough estate, describing an incident where he feared Musk would strike him. The testimony came during the trial for Musk v. Altman, in which Musk alleges his roughly $38 million in donations to OpenAI were misused to create a for-profit venture now valued at $852 billion.
The confrontation
Brockman and OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever met Musk at his self-described "haunted mansion" in August 2017 to negotiate the structure of a planned for-profit arm. Musk had gifted both men new Tesla Model 3s before the meeting, which Brockman interpreted as an attempt to create a sense of indebtedness. Sutskever reciprocated with a painting of a Tesla.
The core disagreement centered on control. Musk wanted full authority over the new entity; Brockman and Sutskever proposed shared governance. After several minutes of deliberation, Musk rejected their offer. According to Brockman's testimony, Musk "stood up and stormed around the table," grabbed the painting, and said he would cut off funding until they quit. Brockman stated: "I actually thought he was going to hit me, physically attack me."
Later that evening, Musk's chief of staff Shivon Zilis called Brockman and Sutskever to say negotiations were not over, suggesting there were "discussions of futures that included us."
Boardroom dynamics
Brockman testified that he, Sutskever, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman considered voting Musk off the nonprofit board as talks dragged on. They ultimately decided against it, feeling removal would be "wrong." Musk left OpenAI in early 2018, writing in an email that the company was on a path of "certain failure."
Zilis, who served as an adviser to both Musk and OpenAI, kept Musk informed about the company's developments. Brockman described her as "proxy Elon in some ways." She joined OpenAI's board in 2020 and gave birth to Musk's twins in 2021. Brockman learned Musk was the father through news articles; when confronted, Zilis said the children were conceived via IVF and the relationship was "entirely platonic." Several board members wanted to remove Zilis, but Brockman and Sutskever convinced them to let her stay because she helped manage Musk's frustrations with OpenAI. A board vote was held. Zilis left the board in 2023 after Musk launched xAI.
Brockman also testified about other board conflicts. He supported the removal or partial recusal of Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo after Quora launched a