Slashdot

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Brockman Rebuts Musk's Take On Startup's History, Recounts Secret Work For Tesla

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: OpenAI President Greg Brockman concluded his testimony on Tuesday, where he largely rebutted Elon Musk's account of the early years of the startup and negotiations that occurred at the company. Brockman testified that he never made any commitments to Musk about the company's corporate structure, and he never heard anyone else make them. He emphasized that OpenAI is still governed by a nonprofit. "This entity remains a nonprofit," Brockman said, referring to the OpenAI foundation. "It is the best-resourced nonprofit in the world." [...] Brockman, who spoke from the witness stand in federal court in Oakland, California, over the course of two days, also revealed that Musk had enlisted several OpenAI employees to do months of free work for him at Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle company. That work mainly included efforts to overhaul the company's approach to developing self-driving technology as part of the Autopilot team there in 2017. During his two days on the stand, Brockman answered questions about his personal financial ambitions, his understanding of OpenAI's structure and Musk's involvement at the company, which they co-founded with other executives in 2015.

In Musk's testimony last week, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that the time, money and resources he poured into OpenAI had been integral to the company's success. He repeatedly said that he helped recruit the company's top talent. Brockman said Tuesday that while Musk was helpful in convincing some employees to take the leap to join OpenAI, he was a polarizing figure for others. "Elon had a reputation of being an extremely hard driver," Brockman said. He added that "certain candidates were very attracted" by Musk's involvement at OpenAI, and that "certain candidates were very turned off." Musk testified last week that a former OpenAI researcher named Andrej Karpathy joined Tesla, but only after he had planned to leave the startup already. Brockman said that Musk, after he hired Karpathy, approached him with "an apology and a confession," about the hire, and that neither Musk nor Karpathy had told him the researcher planned to leave OpenAI before that. Musk was generally not very available for meetings and conversations, Brockman said, so he relied on employees, including Sam Teller and former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, as proxies. Brockman testified that open sourcing OpenAI's technology was "not a topic of conversation" during Musk's time with the nonprofit, despite Musk's claims that it was supposed to be central to the organization. He also described tense 2017 negotiations over a possible for-profit arm, saying Musk became angry when equity stakes were discussed. "He said Musk declined the proposal during an in-person meeting, then tore a painting of a Tesla Model 3 car off the wall, and began storming out of the room," reports CNBC. He also demanded to know when the cofounders would leave the company.

Brockman further said Musk wanted control of OpenAI because he disliked situations where he lacked control, citing Zip2 and SolarCity as examples Musk had raised. He also testified that Musk partly wanted control to help fund his broader SpaceX ambition of building a "city on Mars."

CNBC notes the trial will resume at 8:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday, with Shivon Zilis expected to testify. She is the mother of four of Musk's children and a former OpenAI board member.

Recap:

OpenAI President Discloses His Stake In the Company Is Worth $30 Billion (Day Five)
Musk Concludes Testimony At OpenAI Trial (Day Four)
Elon Musk Says OpenAI Betrayed Him, Clashes With Company's Attorney (Day Three)
Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google (Day Two)
Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Head To Court (Day One)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Found Photograph

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photograph

You Used to Call Home

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

You Used to Call Home

ajpscs posted a photo:

the SQUARE
TOKYO DAY WALK
© ajpscs

Concrete Concourse

Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:

Concrete Concourse

Packard Factory, Detroit, 2018

Portrait of Jan Jose Baca, Mrs. Franc (Emma) Luse Algright, Albright Art Parlors

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Portrait of Jan Jose Baca, Mrs. Franc (Emma) Luse Algright, Albright Art Parlors

Found Photo

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photo

ajpscs has added a photo to the pool:

the SQUARE
TOKYO DAY WALK
© ajpscs

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

‘Stuck in the mud’: one year on, Friedrich Merz struggles to find his footing

Just 19% of Germans approve of the chancellor’s leadership – with some of his comments causing offence amid spats with the White House

Friedrich Merz’s first steps as German chancellor proved to be a stumble and, one year on, he is still struggling to find his footing at the helm of Europe’s top economy and most populous country, with support at historic lows and the far right poised to pounce.

The conservative Christian Democrat took office on 6 May 2025 after a humiliating loss in the first round of voting in parliament. It raised doubts, right from the start, about the stability of his coalition government with the Social Democrats.

Continue reading...

‘Planbaar? Dat is een schijn­werkelijkheid. Een groot deel van de zwangerschappen is onbedoeld’

Bij vrouwen die onbedoeld zwanger raken, speelt schaamte vaak een grote rol. Er wordt „gehamerd op de eigen verantwoordelijkheid van de vrouw, alsof ze het gemakkelijk had kunnen voorkomen.”


Een kat in het weiland is een wandelende stressfactor voor de grutto

Katten die in weides bivakkeren halen drie kwart van hun dieet uit het wild. Bijvoorbeeld gruttokuikens. In Friesland brengen ecologen kattengedrag in kaart. Hun baasjes zijn „vaak verbaasd hoe ver hun kat loopt”.


Elke maand depressief: zo kunnen hormonen je leven ontregelen

Iedere maand hebben tienduizenden vrouwen last van psychische klachten door hun menstruatiecyclus, toch wordt er opvallend weinig onderzoek naar gedaan.

Rijnmond - Nieuws

Het laatste nieuws van vandaag over Rotterdam, Feyenoord, het verkeer en het weer in de regio Rijnmond

Het weer van vandaag: droog en later wat zon

Het weer ziet er vandaag niet verkeerd uit in onze regio. De dag begint bewolkt, maar het blijft droog. In de loop van de dag breekt de zon wat vaker door. De middagtemperatuur komt uit op ongeveer 15 graden, wat aan de koele kant is voor de tijd van het jaar.

Point Malcolm Lighthouse, South Australia.

Mark Sansom has added a photo to the pool:

Point Malcolm Lighthouse, South Australia.

alice river- eastern great egret

Fat Burns ☮ has added a photo to the pool:

alice river- eastern great egret

Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.

Eastern Great Egret
Scientific Name: Ardea modesta

Description: The Great Egret's overall plumage is white, and, for most of the year, when not breeding, the bill and facial skin are yellow. The feet are dark olive-grey or sooty black, as are the legs. During the breeding season, the bill turns mostly black and the facial skin becomes green. Also at this time, long hair-like feathers (nuptial plumes) hang across the lower back, and the legs become pinkish-yellow at the top. Young Great Egrets are similar to the adults, but have a blackish tip to the bill.
Similar species: The Great Egret can be confused with other white egrets found in Australia. It can be distinguished by the length of its neck, which is greater than the length of its body (and with a noticeable kink two-thirds of the way up), a dark line extending from the base of the bill to behind the eye and the overall larger size.
Distribution: Great Egrets occur throughout most of the world. They are common throughout Australia, with the exception of the most arid areas.
Habitat: Great Egrets prefer shallow water, particularly when flowing, but may be seen on any watered area, including damp grasslands. Great Egrets can be seen alone or in small flocks, often with other egret species, and roost at night in groups.
Feeding: The Great Egret usually feeds alone. It feeds on molluscs, amphibians, aquatic insects, small reptiles, crustaceans and occasionally other small animals, but fish make up the bulk of its diet. The Great Egret usually hunts in water, wading through the shallows, or standing motionless before stabbing at prey. Birds have also been seen taking prey while in flight.
Breeding: The Great Egret breeds in colonies, and often in association with cormorants, ibises and other egrets. Both sexes construct the nest, which is a large platform of sticks, placed in a tree over the water. The previous years' nest may often be re-used. Both sexes also incubate the eggs and care for the young (usually two or three).
Minimum Size: 70cm
Maximum Size: 90cm
Average size: 80cm
Breeding season: October to December in the south; March to May in the north.
Clutch Size: 2 to 6
Incubation: 28 days
Nestling Period: 40 days
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)
_______________________

© Chris Burns 2026

All rights reserved.

This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

VK: Voorpagina

Volkskrant.nl biedt het laatste nieuws, opinie en achtergronden

De morele superioriteit van progressieve vrouwen is afwezig wanneer het gaat om immigratie

Van illegale immigrant tot uitgesproken bisschop: Menjivar-Ayala werd geïnspireerd door vermoorde Oscar Romero

Peilingen laten groeiende Trump-moeheid zien: groot deel vindt hem mentaal ongeschikt als leider VS

Een retraite op Ibiza moet mannen gevoeliger maken. Onze verslaggever nam de proef op de som

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

India orders infosec red alert in case Mythos sparks crime spree

Securities regulator urges market players to develop new strategies and nail cyber-basics before AI models fuel mass attacks

India’s Securities and Exchange Board has advised participants in the nation’s equities industry to immediately revisit their information security systems and practices, in case Anthropic’s Mythos bug-finding AI sparks a cyberattack spree.…