Shivon Zilis Emerges as Key Figure in Musk v. Altman Trial

As the first week of the Musk v. Altman trial concludes, Shivon Zilis has emerged as a central behind-the-scenes figure in OpenAI's early years. Zilis, a longtime employee of Elon Musk and mother to four of his children, joined OpenAI as an adviser in 2016 and later served on its nonprofit board from 2020 to 2023. OpenAI's lawyers have presented evidence that Zilis acted as a covert liaison between Musk and OpenAI's leadership, even after Musk left the board in February 2018. In a text message from February 16, 2018, days before Musk's departure was announced, Zilis asked him whether she should "stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate." Musk responded that she should remain close while Tesla actively recruited several OpenAI employees. Court evidence shows Zilis continued updating Musk on OpenAI's fundraising and projects after he left the board. In an April 2018 email, she told Musk she had reallocated most of her time to Neuralink and Tesla but offered to "pull more hours back to OpenAI oversight" if he preferred. The trial also revealed Zilis advised Sam Altman on managing his relationship with Musk. In October 2022, Altman sent Zilis a screenshot of an angry text from Musk and asked for advice about how to respond. She recommended he not text back immediately. In February 2023, Altman asked Zilis whether he should tweet something nice about Musk; he posted praise on X shortly after. Musk testified that Zilis never shared sensitive information about OpenAI with him that she was not authorized to disclose. He donated about $38 million to OpenAI without imposing conditions that would prevent it from restructuring into a for-profit business. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers appeared skeptical about the timing of Musk's lawsuit, noting it intensified around the same year he founded xAI as a for-profit company. The trial is expected to continue next week with testimony from Greg Brockman.