The emails reconstructed in chronological order, grouped into the five eras the case files break down into. Click any event to read the full thread.
May–December 2015. Sam Altman emails Elon Musk about starting a 'Manhattan Project for AI.' Within seven months, OpenAI is announced.
Sam Altman's first pitch to Elon Musk. Proposes a 'Manhattan Project for AI' run as a 501(c)(3), structured to belong to humanity, with leadership including Musk himself.
Sam follows up after the call. Lays out an initial structural proposal — a nonprofit with a 'guiding light' role for Elon Musk.
Days before public launch, Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman discuss positioning and the scientific framing of OpenAI.
Through 2016 and into early 2017, the lab grows. Compute is short. Talent costs balloon. Elon commits 'whatever is needed.'
April 2017 to February 2018. The for-profit question opens, terms are negotiated, the cofounders refuse Elon's demand for control. Resignation follows.
Sam Altman raises, for the first time, the idea of converting OpenAI into a for-profit. Frames it around the inability of the nonprofit to compete on compensation and compute.
First written cap-table-level proposal. Greg and Ilya circulate equity terms. Elon's proposed share is left blank.
Shivon Zilis debriefs Elon Musk after a private dinner with Greg Brockman. The first internal indication that the cofounders are uncomfortable with Elon's terms.
Shivon Zilis again. Summarizes the in-person meeting where the cofounders ask for clarity on Elon's role. Tensions are sharpening.
The single most cited document in the case. Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman, writing together, accuse Elon Musk of seeking 'absolute control' of OpenAI and warn that handing AGI to one person — Musk or Altman — is unacceptable.
Andrej Karpathy, then at Tesla, sends Elon Musk a long memo arguing OpenAI is losing the AGI race and proposing it should be absorbed by Tesla as 'its cash cow.'
Elon Musk forwards Karpathy's memo to Ilya and Greg with a brutal preface. The break is now visible.
Elon Musk formally resigns from the OpenAI board. The internal note is short and clinical. The public statement cites a Tesla conflict of interest.
Capped-profit announced. Microsoft invests. ChatGPT launches. Musk is silent in the archive — until the launch of GPT-4.
Ten months after his resignation, Elon Musk re-engages briefly. The verdict is bleak: needs billions per year immediately, or 'forget it.'
Sam Altman informs Elon Musk that OpenAI is announcing the capped-profit subsidiary. Elon's reply is one line.
February 2023 to present. Open accusations, the Altman firing, and finally, a complaint filed in San Francisco.
An SMS exchange following the launch of GPT-4 and the Microsoft partnership. Tone has changed. This message is quoted in the complaint.
Days after Sam Altman is briefly fired, then reinstated, by the OpenAI board. Elon Musk reaches out for the first time in months.
Elon Musk files suit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices.