Sam Altman detailed in court that Elon Musk tried to gain control of OpenAI to force a Tesla merger and that Musk’s leadership methods were “hair-raising” and unsuitable for a research environment. Altman also disclosed that after his May 2023 board ouster he seriously considered accepting a role at Microsoft.

The lawsuit alleges Altman and OpenAI abused the nonprofit structure by funneling value to Microsoft through their partnership, putting the multibillion-dollar AI collaboration at risk. The dispute raises concerns over how future agreements between Microsoft and OpenAI will be structured and could impact Microsoft’s broader AI roadmap.