OpenAI president Greg Brockman told a California jury Tuesday that Elon Musk physically threatened him during a 2017 confrontation, after the billionaire was refused absolute control of the company.

“I actually thought he was going to hit me,” Brockman said. The testimony came on the second day of his appearance at the Musk vs OpenAI trial.

What is the Musk vs OpenAI trial about?

Elon Musk sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company of betraying its original nonprofit mission.

Musk claims OpenAI pivoted to a for-profit structure and misappropriated his $38 million founding donation to build a company now valued at over $850 billion.

OpenAI counters that Musk left voluntarily after failing to seize majority control, and has since launched a direct competitor through his own AI venture, xAI.

What did Brockman say about the 2017 confrontation with Musk?

Brockman testified that Musk stormed out of a meeting after being refused absolute control of OpenAI. He said he feared a physical attack in the moment. The New York Times reported Brockman told the court: “I thought he was going to hit me. I thought he was going to physically attack me.”

Under cross-examination by OpenAI attorney Sarah Eddy, Brockman sought to reframe diary entries that Musk’s lawyers had used the previous day to portray him as a calculating opportunist. One November 2017 entry read: “It’d be wrong to steal the non-profit from him. That’d be pretty morally bankrupt.”

Brockman told the court the entries were “very painful, very deeply personal writings that were never meant for the world to see, but there’s nothing in there I’m ashamed of.”

What did Brockman say about Musk’s departure from OpenAI?

Brockman testified that when Musk announced his departure from OpenAI in February 2018, he told staff he intended to pursue AI development inside Tesla without regard for safety. Brockman said Musk told employees at the time: “If the sheep are dictating safety and the wolves are not, then there’s no purpose.”

OpenAI’s legal team argues the timeline proves Musk was fully aware of the company’s commercial pivot. They say his 2024 lawsuit, filed after he launched rival lab xAI, is meritless.

Why did OpenAI shift away from its nonprofit structure?

Brockman testified that OpenAI now spends $50 billion a year on computing power, compared to just $30 million in 2017. The scale of that growth, he argued, shows why a charity-style organisation could never have funded the technology. Brockman acknowledged Monday that his own stake in OpenAI is currently valued at $30 billion.

Sam Altman is expected to testify as early as next week.