Elon Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft has brought to light private communications that expose the early days of the artificial intelligence giant. Central to the ongoing court battle is the testimony of Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Musk’s children.
Through leaked text messages and detailed court filings, Zilis has provided a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the tech industry’s most high-profile feud. From Musk’s aggressive tactics to poach top AI talent for Tesla to the board’s deep concerns ahead of the explosive launch, Zilis’s records paint a complex picture of competing interests and shifting loyalties.
Here are key revelations from her testimony:
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What did Shivon Zilis reveal about Elon Musk’s early involvement with OpenAI?⌵
Shivon Zilis’s testimony revealed that in 2018, Elon Musk wanted her to stay close and friendly with OpenAI while also actively trying to recruit talent for Tesla. She also stated that Musk had previously considered recruiting Sam Altman for Tesla’s board.
Why did Shivon Zilis resign from the OpenAI board?⌵
Shivon Zilis testified that she resigned from the OpenAI board because Elon Musk, the father of her children, started a competitive effort and began recruiting from OpenAI. She felt there was nothing else she could do in that situation.
What were Shivon Zilis’s concerns about the ChatGPT launch?⌵
Shivon Zilis noted internal unrest within OpenAI before the ChatGPT launch, stating that the board “voiced extreme concern” about releasing it without proper board communication. She also mentioned having raised concerns about Sam Altman internally on a couple of occasions.
How did Shivon Zilis facilitate communication at OpenAI?⌵
Shivon Zilis testified that her historical role at OpenAI was to facilitate communication between all major parties to ensure maximal alignment. She also stated that Sam Altman invited her to join the board in 2020, which she accepted because she wanted AI to go well for humanity.
Did Shivon Zilis funnel information to Elon Musk from OpenAI?⌵
Shivon Zilis firmly denied funneling information to Elon Musk while serving on the OpenAI board. She also stated that in 2018, Musk responded to her question about staying close to OpenAI by saying they would recruit a few people from there for Tesla.
‘Do you prefer I stay close…?’
According to court filings, cited by The Guardian, Shivon Zilis texted Musk in 2018, “Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance on how to do right by you is appreciated.”
“Close and friendly, but we are going to actively try to move three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. More than that will join over time, but we won’t actively recruit them,” Musk responded, according to a report by The Guardian.
‘My role is…’
According to a report by The Guardian, when Musk left OpenAI’s board in February 2018, Zilis said, “They were kind of bad at speaking to each other.”
She added, “My role historically had been to facilitate communication between all of the major parties to make a maximal alignment between them.”
Zilis also testified that later invited her to join the board in 2020, and she accepted because she had “spent the last decade of my life wanting AI to go well for humanity.” When asked whether she funnelled information to Musk while serving on the board, she firmly denied it, responding, “Funnel? Certainly not.”
‘When the father of your babies…’
According to CNN, Zilis told a friend in text messages that she had to resign from the board because Musk’s “effort has become well known”.
“When the father of your babies starts a competitive effort and will recruit out of OpenAI, there is nothing to be done,” Zilis wrote at the time in the messages entered as evidence.
Tesla board seat for Altman?
At one point, Elon Musk considered recruiting Sam Altman to serve on Tesla Inc.’s board of directors, jurors were told. According to Bloomberg, Shivon Zilis testified, “there was a time where that was on the table” around late 2017.
The Bloomberg report said that Zilis was shown a 2017 email she wrote about an event to announce the creation of an AI lab at — an initiative that she said was under consideration but “never got legs.”
The email, the report said, included an FAQ about the event, stating that: “Those who want to work on large-scale AI research don’t currently think of Tesla. Elon wants to change that by announcing his intention to create a world-class AI lab.”
“In early 2018, Mr. Musk continued to try to persuade his co-founders to join Tesla and pursue AGI there, didn’t he?” Eddy asked, referring to artificial general intelligence.
“That would have been an idea on the table then,” Zilis said. “I can’t recall if it was also in 2017. I just don’t remember the exact time frame.”
Concern about ChatGPT release
According to a Reuters report, Shivon Zilis noted that there was internal unrest as the company prepared for the major launch of the ChatGPT chatbot.
She said the board “voiced extreme concern” about releasing ChatGPT “without any semblance of board communication.”
Asked whether she raised concerns about Altman internally, Zilis said “there had been a couple of instances.”
Why does Shivon Zilis matter?
Shivon Zilis was instrumental in Musk’s dealings with OpenAI from the company’s early years, including discussions in 2017 about the potential formation of a for-profit structure to fund AI development.
Elon Musk has four children with Zilis — twins Strider and Azure, a daughter Arcadia and a son Seldon Lycurgus. Seldon, Musk’s 13th child, was born in March, 2025.
During his testimony last week, Elon Musk described Shivon Zilis as the mother of his children and said they live together. The pair have also recently been spotted holding hands and appearing together at events, including dinners with US President Donald Trump at the White House and Mar-a-Lago.
