Sam Altman claims Elon Musk’s tactics harmed OpenAI.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has stated that Elon Musk caused significant disruption to the culture at the AI startup. During his testimony in Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman revealed that Musk had instructed OpenAI president Greg Brockman and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever to evaluate researchers based on their achievements and to make drastic cuts.

Altman acknowledged that this management approach was typical of Musk but noted it clashed with the needs of a research-focused environment. He explained, “I don’t think Mr. Musk understood how to run a good research lab,” when asked about the effects of Musk’s exit on team morale. He emphasized that a research lab thrives on psychological safety and the freedom to explore ideas over extended periods, rather than the pressure to deliver immediate results or face termination.

Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015 alongside Altman and Brockman but departed in 2018. Initially, OpenAI stated that Musk’s exit was to prevent conflicts with Tesla’s machine learning initiatives, but recent testimonies suggest a different narrative.

Altman noted that Musk’s departure actually improved morale, as employees felt relieved from the pressure of his management style. Musk’s lawsuit alleges that OpenAI strayed from its foundational mission to benefit humanity and claims that Altman and Brockman misled him into funding the organization.

As the trial progresses into its third week, testimonies from several prominent figures have emerged, including Brockman, former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.