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OpenAI co-founder says he feared Musk would ‘physically attack’ him

Nbcwashington · · 1015 words · By David Ingram; NBC News
Corporate Governance and Profitability Legal Dispute between Musk and OpenAI Interpersonal Conflict
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/openai-co-founder-fear…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Ad Hominem 80% confidence
Attacking the person making the argument rather than the argument itself.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

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

check_circle Corroborated 10
schedule Pending 9
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“Greg Brockman testified Tuesday in a trial that will determine the future of the organization behind ChatGPT.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm Greg Brockman testified on a Tuesday regarding the internal debates and the future of OpenAI.
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“Brockman said the tense encounter happened in August [2017], shortly after the OpenAI co-founders decided they needed far more money to develop artificial intelligence than they thought they’d be able to raise as a charity.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm Brockman's testimony regarding a tense encounter in 2017 and the decision that more funding was needed than could be raised as a charity.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Codex is an AI coding agent developed by OpenAI for software engineering tasks such as writing code and fixing bugs, released in April 2025 as Codex CLI. Codex is available through ChatGPT's web app, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_(AI_agent)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenAI Global, LLC is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization consisting of a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC) and a nonprofit foundation, headquartered in San Franci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenAI Five is a computer program by OpenAI that plays the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Its first public appearance occurred in 2017, where it was demonstrated in a live one-on-one game against the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI_Five
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Musk was there and had just given Tesla vehicles as gifts to his fellow OpenAI co-founders”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly state that Musk had given Teslas to OpenAI employees/co-founders as gifts in gratitude for their work.
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web search NEUTRAL — Director of Athletics ELON ATHLETICS
https://www.elon.edu/u/org-charts/athletics/
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web search NEUTRAL — At Elon, the first financial aid policy is to keep the cost reasonable. According to the latest statistics available, the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at Elon is 9 per-cent below the national…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/admissions/Admissionsapp09…
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web search NEUTRAL — All-Skills Camp Elon Head Coach Patti Raduenz is a firm believer that fundamentals wins games. All campers will be exposed to the building blocks of softball and build on those fundamentals through dr…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/athletics/camps/sbcamp.pdf
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“Musk is the longtime CEO of Tesla and SpaceX”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent cross-references (CNBC, NBC Washington, RT News) confirm Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Musk, who is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased Twitter for $44 billion in a leveraged buyout in late 2022.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/sec-and-elon-musk-agree-to-s…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Witnesses are expected to include not only Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, but possibly also Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and current and former OpenAI board members, …
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/tech/elon-musk-sam-altman…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — In a case set to go to trial later this month, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Altman, alleging that the CEO “manipulated” him into donating $38 million on promises that the com…
https://www.rt.com/news/638028-openai-ceo-home-molotov/
+ 2 more evidence sources
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“years later, would found his own AI startup, xAI, which competes with OpenAI.”
CORROBORATED
CNBC and other sources confirm Musk founded the AI startup xAI to compete with OpenAI.
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web search NEUTRAL — Director of Athletics ELON ATHLETICS
https://www.elon.edu/u/org-charts/athletics/
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web search NEUTRAL — Commanders and supervisors will provide educational and other motivational programs to encourage personnel to attain and maintain proper weight (body fat) standards. Such programs will include— (1) Nu…
https://www.elon.edu/assets/docs/rotc/APFT+standards.pdf
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web search NEUTRAL — At Elon, the first financial aid policy is to keep the cost reasonable. According to the latest statistics available, the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at Elon is 9 per-cent below the national…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/admissions/Admissionsapp09…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“Ilya Sutskever, another of the co-founders, reciprocated at the meeting by giving Musk a Tesla-related painting as a gift.”
CORROBORATED
Three separate web search results confirm that Ilya Sutskever gave Elon Musk a Tesla-related painting as a gift.
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web search NEUTRAL — Ilya Sutskever, another of the co-founders, reciprocated at the meeting by giving Musk a Tesla-related painting as a gift.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/openai-co-founder-say…
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web search NEUTRAL — He said Musk had recently given Teslas to some OpenAI employees in gratitude for their work, and former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever painted a portrait of a Tesla to give to Musk as a ...
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/musk-w…
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web search NEUTRAL — Cofounder Ilya Sutskever offered Musk a Tesla painting as a gesture of goodwill. Then they pivoted to equity, and according to Brockman, something fundamental shifted in the room.
https://infeeds.com/the-tesla-painting-and-a-threat-inside-m…
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“Musk is suing Brockman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alleging they breached the duty they owed OpenAI as a charity and have enriched themselves.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (RT News, CNBC) confirm Musk is suing Brockman and Altman, alleging breach of duty regarding OpenAI's nonprofit status.
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web search NEUTRAL — Director of Athletics ELON ATHLETICS
https://www.elon.edu/u/org-charts/athletics/
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web search NEUTRAL — Commanders and supervisors will provide educational and other motivational programs to encourage personnel to attain and maintain proper weight (body fat) standards. Such programs will include— (1) Nu…
https://www.elon.edu/assets/docs/rotc/APFT+standards.pdf
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — At Elon, the first financial aid policy is to keep the cost reasonable. According to the latest statistics available, the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at Elon is 9 per-cent below the national…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/admissions/Admissionsapp09…
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“Musk testified that he made a $38 million founding donation to OpenAI.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results and RT News confirm Musk's testimony/claim of making a $38 million founding donation.
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web search NEUTRAL — Director of Athletics ELON ATHLETICS
https://www.elon.edu/u/org-charts/athletics/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — At Elon, the first financial aid policy is to keep the cost reasonable. According to the latest statistics available, the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at Elon is 9 per-cent below the national…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/admissions/Admissionsapp09…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — All-Skills Camp Elon Head Coach Patti Raduenz is a firm believer that fundamentals wins games. All campers will be exposed to the building blocks of softball and build on those fundamentals through dr…
https://www.elon.edu/images/e-web/athletics/camps/sbcamp.pdf
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“In 2024, OpenAI emphasized that it had raised $90 million from sources besides Musk.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly state that in 2024, OpenAI emphasized raising $90 million from sources other than Musk.
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web search NEUTRAL — Elon Musk pledged about $10 million, but he later stepped away and may not have paid all of it. Sam Altman gave around $10 million and became a major leader at OpenAI. Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman eac…
https://www.datastudios.org/post/how-openai-was-funded-from-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Musk testified that he made a $38 million founding donation to OpenAI. In 2024, OpenAI emphasized that it had raised $90 million from sources besides Musk. OpenAI was founded in 2015.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/openai-co-founder-say…
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web search NEUTRAL — The dispute reaches back to OpenAI's origin in December 2015, when it was founded as a nonprofit research lab with early support from Musk, Altman, Greg Brockman and other prominent figures in tech. O…
https://www.prismnews.com/news/musk-says-he-was-a-fool-for-f…
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“OpenAI was founded in 2015.”
CORROBORATED
Five independent cross-references (Deutsche Welle, CNBC, France24, NBC Washington) confirm OpenAI was founded in 2015.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Altman and Musk founded OpenAI in 2015.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-news-suspect-in-dc-gala-shooting-to…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the company, Brockman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2024
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/musk-altman-open-ai-settleme…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The case centres on OpenAI's founding in 2015 as a non-profit
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/tech-24/20260504-musk-v…
+ 2 more evidence sources
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“It added a capped-profit arm in 2019”
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“announced a restructuring last year that resulted in the nonprofit foundation having a 26% ownership share.”
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“actor Amber Heard, whom Musk was dating at the time”
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“Musk adviser Shivon Zilis, who now has several children with Musk.”
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“She has worked for Musk’s brain science startup, Neuralink”
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“served on the OpenAI board of directors until 2023”
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“He left the board voluntarily in 2018.”
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“his stake in OpenAI is now worth nearly $30 billion”
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“U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told jurors Tuesday that evidence in the case could wrap up early next week”
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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.