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OpenAI Founders' Mansion Showdown Revealed
6 May
Summary
- Greg Brockman testified about Elon Musk's erratic behavior in 2017.
- Musk reportedly threatened to cut funding during OpenAI negotiations.
- Brockman felt Musk was unfit to control AI due to his lack of vision.

In August 2017, a pivotal meeting at Elon Musk's estate saw co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever clash with Musk over OpenAI's future. Brockman testified that Musk reacted with fury when Brockman and Sutskever objected to his demand for absolute control over the company, proposing shared governance instead. Musk reportedly threatened to cease funding unless they quit, even making Brockman fear physical assault.
Brockman further illustrated Musk's unsuitability to lead an AI company. He recalled Musk dismissing an early AI chatbot as "stupid," which deeply discouraged a researcher whose work later became foundational for ChatGPT. Brockman and Sutskever had to rebuild the researcher's confidence. Ultimately, Musk departed OpenAI in early 2018, deeming it a "certain failure."