Former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Appears in Court: Engaged in 'Extended Discussion' with Murati to Replace Altman, Spent a Year Drafting 52-Page Affidavit Alleging His 'Continuous Deception'

According to Counterpoint Beating monitoring, OpenAI co-founder and former Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever testified in court on Monday in the Musk v. OpenAI case, revealing for the first time his behind-the-scenes effort to oust Altman. He said he spent about a year gathering evidence to prove Altman's "pattern of continuous lying," including instigating executive infighting. At the board's request, he also wrote a 52-page memo, as disclosed in previous testimonies. He mentioned having "lengthy discussions" with then-CTO Mira Murati about the possibility of replacing Altman, ultimately describing the November 2023 removal action as a "last-ditch effort."

However, Sutskever also defended OpenAI in court. He stated that OpenAI never committed to operating as a nonprofit entity indefinitely and that the transition to a for-profit company was a team consensus. When asked about the impact of computing power on AI research, he gave an analogy, saying it's like the difference between "ants and cats"—without money, there's no significant computing power. He revealed turning down a $6 million annual salary from Google to join OpenAI.

Sutskever also disclosed that his current OpenAI stake is valued at around $7 billion (approximately $5 billion in November 2025), making him one of the known largest individual shareholders. He also confirmed for the first time that during Altman's brief removal, the remaining board members engaged in talks with rival Anthropic for a merger proposal, where Anthropic would take over OpenAI’s leadership, but he was "not excited" about the merger. Sutskever left OpenAI in 2024 and founded a new company, Safe Superintelligence.

As the case nears its conclusion, the judge announced that closing arguments will take place on Thursday, with Altman expected to testify on Tuesday.