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Elon Musk is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit alleging that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman violated the company\u2019s principles by pursuing profitability. A new document in the case, filed Monday by OpenAI\u2019s counsel, shows that he tried to put an end to it before it began. Per the filing, Musk sent a text to Brockman two days before the trial was set to begin to try to secure a settlement.<\/p>\n
On April 25, Musk allegedly sent Brockman a text that was meant (according to a description from the defendant\u2019s attorneys) to gauge interest in a potential settlement. Brockman apparently responded to the message with the suggestion that both sides of the case drop their claims. Musk responded, \u201cBy the end of this week, you and
Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
OpenAI\u2019s representatives said they \u201cdo not intend to introduce a screenshot of the exchange into evidence,\u201d so we\u2019re stuck going off their description of the exchange. It seems the plan is to introduce the text into evidence so that they can ask Brockman about it when he takes the witness stand to testify.<\/p>\n
OpenAI\u2019s filing did include some context, less about this case and more about Musk\u2019s modus operandi. It included a similar settlement \u201cthreat\u201d made during litigation over his bid to acquire Twitter and subsequent failed attempt to get out of the deal. That, OpenAI argued, \u201ctends to prove motive and bias, and, in particular, that Mr. Musk\u2019s motivation in pursuing this lawsuit is to attack a competitor and its principals.\u201d They argued the settlement offer, paired with a threat to make Altman and Brockman \u201cthe most hated men in America,\u201d was \u201ccoercive rather than conciliatory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Altman and Brockman aren\u2019t exactly popular (well, Brockman isn\u2019t really known to most of the public), but Musk has a real uphill climb in trying to make them more hated than himself. A YouGov poll from earlier this year found that 56% of the general public held unfavorable views of Musk, compared to 34% who had positive associations with the oligarch. It\u2019s not clear that spending much of last week testifying will help Musk\u2019s image among those who are paying attention. He repeatedly lost his cool and revealed that at least some of his public bluster about his companies is little more than smoke and mirrors.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say Altman is beloved in comparison to Musk, seeing as a Tech Oversight poll conducted last year found 50% of people have a negative view of OpenAI\u2019s CEO. Altman also typically doesn\u2019t do himself many favors when speaking publicly\u2014it turns out most people don\u2019t have fond feelings when a rich guy coldly says things like \u201cI expect some really bad stuff to happen because of the technology\u201d and then continues to develop the technology. But it seems like the best case here for Musk is that he wins a very South Park-ian Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich-style popularity contest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n