eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Musk texted OpenAI's Brockman about settlement two days before trial began

Cnbc · · 406 words · By Ashley Capoot
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/musk-altman-open-ai-settlement-trial-brockman.ht…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

11 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

verified Verified By Reference 3
help Insufficient Evidence 3
info Single Source 2
check_circle Corroborated 2
schedule Pending 1
info
“Two days before Elon Musk's multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against OpenAI was slated to head to trial, Musk texted the company's president, Greg Brockman, to gauge his interest in a settlement”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web search results confirm that Elon Musk is testifying in a trial against OpenAI and Greg Brockman, none of the provided evidence mentions a specific text message sent two days before the trial to gauge interest in a settlement.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk, who split from OpenAI years after cofounding it as a nonprofit in 2015, said it was putting commercial interests over the public’s. A company lawyer said Mr. Musk had sued because he did no…
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/28/technology/openai-sa…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Musk has accused OpenAI, its co-founder and chief executive Altman, and its President Greg Brockman of wooing his donations by promising to build a nonprofit to develop AI responsibly, before pivoting…
https://www.watoday.com.au/technology/it-felt-like-a-bribe-e…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk took the witness stand Tuesday in his lawsuit against OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman, which claims that the ChatGPT maker deceived him and betrayed its original missi…
https://abc7news.com/live-updates/elon-musk-sam-altman-live-…
check_circle
“Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the company, Brockman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2024”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (TechCrunch, Corporate Board Member, and other news reports) confirm Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman in 2024.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Musk, a co-founder and early backer of OpenAI, claims Altman and Brockman convinced him to help found and bankroll the startup in 2015 with promises it would be a nonprofit focused on countering the c…
https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/01/elon-musk-openai-sam-altma…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mr. Musk co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015 alongside Sam Altman and other artificial intelligence researchers.But Sam Altman, another co-founder, and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, had soug…
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/28/technology/openai-sa…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — On March 1, 2024, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit in San Francisco against OpenAI.Founded in 2015, OpenAI’s publicly stated motive was pure—developing “safe and beneficial” artificial general intelligence (…
https://boardmember.com/elon-musk-and-openai-an-example-of-m…
info
“Trial proceedings kicked off late last month in federal court in Oakland, California”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general definitions of what a 'trial' is, rather than specific confirmation that this particular trial began in Oakland, California, last month.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The meaning of TRIAL is the formal examination before a competent tribunal of the matter in issue in a civil or criminal cause in order to determine such issue.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trial
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 7, 2026 · A trial is a structured legal proceeding where each side presents evidence, questions witnesses, and argues its position before a judge or jury that decides the outcome.
https://legalclarity.org/what-happens-during-the-trial-proce…
check_circle
“Musk took the witness stand last week”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results (ABC7 San Francisco and others) explicitly state that Elon Musk took the witness stand to testify in his lawsuit against OpenAI.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Experiential learning, outstanding teaching & mentoring, and an excellent four-year graduation rate make Elon a top-100 National University.
https://www.elon.edu/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Academics are different at Elon. Learning happens not just in the classroom, but around the world through rigorous, immersive experiences that prepare students to conquer the challenges of the real wo…
https://www.elon.edu/u/nav-academics/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Elon University is the nationally recognized leader in engaged, experiential learning that prepares graduates to be creative, resilient, ambitious and ethical citizens of our global culture. With an i…
https://www.elon.edu/u/nav-about/
verified
“his competing AI startup, xAI, which he founded five years after departing OpenAI's board in 2018”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other sources confirm Musk left the OpenAI board in 2018 and founded xAI. While the 'five years later' math (2018 to 2023) is consistent with xAI's launch, the evidence confirms the sequence of events.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — X.AI Corp., doing business as xAI, is an American company working in the area of artificial intelligence (AI), social media and technology that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace compa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XAI_(company)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk and Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI years ago, but they're often at odds today. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and now heads rival xAI. Here's a history of Musk and Altman's working relationship ...
https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-elon-musk-and-sam…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk helped create OpenAI in 2015, aiming to make artificial intelligence research open and accessible for everyone, not just big tech companies. He invested money and influence to help OpenAI be…
https://www.datastudios.org/post/elon-musk-s-relationship-wi…
verified
“Musk merged xAI with his rocket company SpaceX in February in a deal that valued the startup at $250 billion”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and The Guardian explicitly state that SpaceX acquired xAI in February 2026, valuing xAI at $250 billion.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — On February 2, 2026, SpaceX acquired xAI in an all-stock transaction that structured xAI as a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX.[13][34] The acquisition valued SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 bi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XAI_(company)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX-xAI Merger. Combined entity valued at $1.25 trillion. The December 2024 round was particularly notable because SpaceX itself bought back $500 million in common stock - a rare share repurchase f…
https://keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — It values SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn, with a stock market flotation expected in June to time with Musk’s birthday and a planetary alignment.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/07/why-has-e…
help
“OpenAI... established a for-profit subsidiary in 2018”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
The claim states the for-profit subsidiary was established in 2018. However, Wikipedia and Contrary report that the for-profit subsidiary was created in 2019.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI was founded in 2015 in Delaware as a nonprofit. A for-profit subsidiary of the nonprofit was created in 2019, and a 2025 restructuring converted the subsidiary into a PBC that is 26% owned by t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — While initially established as a nonprofit, OpenAI introduced a “capped-profit” for-profit subsidiary in 2019 under the oversight of the nonprofit parent to balance the capital intensity of building f…
https://research.contrary.com/company/openai
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI Establishes For-Profit Company San Francisco-based research organization OpenAI was launched in 2015 as a non-profit company with the overarching goal of achieving a safe and socially …
https://medium.com/syncedreview/openai-establishes-for-profi…
verified
“the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia, TechCrunch, and OpenAI's own announcement confirm ChatGPT was released in November 2022.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. It was released in November 2022. It uses large language models—specifically generative pre-trained transformers—to generat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — ChatGPT is fine-tuned from a model in the GPT‑3.5 series, which finished training in early 2022.Today’s research release of ChatGPT is the latest step in OpenAI’s iterative deployment of increasingly …
https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — On November 30, 2022, OpenAI introduced a new product to the world, innocuously describing it as “a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way.”
https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/30/chatgpt-launched-three-yea…
+ 1 more evidence source
help
“OpenAI is now valued at more than $850 billion by private investors”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the current private valuation of OpenAI being over $850 billion.
help
“the roughly $38 million he donated to OpenAI in its early years”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the specific amount of money ($38 million) Musk donated to OpenAI.
schedule
“Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing the case”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.