Tech Titans' War Heats Up, Shocking Facts Revealed
The conflict between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is heating up. In the lawsuit against OpenAI at a federal court in California, former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mira Murati revealed shocking facts. She stated that Altman’s behaviour triggered distrust within the company.
Murati said Altman often made different statements to different people, creating chaos at the senior executive level as OpenAI developed and massively launched artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
“I was worried because Sam would say one thing to someone, then something completely different to another person,” Murati said in a recorded testimony played in the Oakland, California court, quoted by Reuters on Thursday (8/5/2026).
Murati even assessed that Altman was dishonest several times towards her and others in the company.
This case originated from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI in 2024. Musk accused OpenAI of deviating from its original mission as a non-profit organisation and turning into a company pursuing commercial profits.
The founder of Tesla and SpaceX demanded compensation of US$150 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft as the main investor in the company.
This trial is considered highly important as it could determine the future of OpenAI, which is now one of the most influential AI companies in the world through products like ChatGPT.
During the trial, Murati revealed that OpenAI was once in a critical condition when the board of directors sacked Altman in 2023.
“OpenAI was at risk of a disaster of collapsing,” said Murati.
In addition to Murati, former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis also revealed internal concerns ahead of the ChatGPT launch. According to her, the board of directors once questioned the decision to release ChatGPT without adequate communication.
The hearing also uncovered several new facts, including Musk’s attempt to reconcile with OpenAI President Greg Brockman before the trial began. Musk also once felt like a fool for continuing to fund OpenAI.