Elon Musk's lawyer today displayed a crucial piece of evidence to the jury in his ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. The documents are devastating, exposing the two-faced behavior of OpenAI's president, Greg Brockman. If the jury buys this narrative, Musk's chances of winning just skyrocketed.
Everyone knows Sam Altman, but Greg Brockman is the real technical and engineering backbone of OpenAI. He's the co-founder and president, Altman's closest ally. To the outside world, he's always come across as a sincere, pragmatic technologist. But the newly revealed files shatter that image.
The evidence shows that as far back as November 2017, Brockman wrote bluntly in his private notes: he wanted to turn the company into a for-profit, and the core prerequisite was getting Musk out.
He was fully aware that publicly promising to remain a nonprofit while privately planning the transition was, at its core, deception. He even foresaw that a fight would be necessary to oust Musk and complete the conversion.
Here's the most ironic part — the extreme duplicity. Shortly after privately plotting Musk's removal, on New Year's Day 2018, Brockman sent Musk an email full of flattery: "It's an honor to fight alongside you," "Thank you for your vision."
Musk's lawyer presented all of this to the jury with one clear goal: prove that OpenAI's management engaged in long-term concealment and even fraud toward Musk regarding the company's restructuring and power distribution. The stark contrast between public face and private plans strikes at the very foundation of business trust. (The jury's verdict is purely advisory, but the judge will have the final say.)