Court filings reveal Elon Musk sought pre-trial settlement with Greg Brockman

Elon Musk approached OpenAI's Greg Brockman to discuss a settlement just before the start of his civil trial.

When the OpenAI president declined, Musk responded with a threat, as revealed in a new document.

"Around April 25, 2026, two days prior to the beginning of the trial, Mr. Musk reached out to Mr. Brockman to explore the possibility of settling," attorneys for Altman and Brockman stated in a filing on Sunday.

Brockman replied with an idea for both parties to dismiss their claims. Musk then replied, "By the week's end, you and Sam will become the most reviled men in America. If that's what you want, so be it," as indicated in the filing.

The Tesla CEO initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, and Brockman two years back, alleging that they "misled" him into donating $38 million to a nonprofit aimed at benefiting humanity in 2015.

The organisation still maintains a nonprofit sector, but it's largely eclipsed by a for-profit entity with a value surpassing $800 billion.

Brockman is expected to testify on Monday.

The representatives of the defendants are requesting permission to present the conversation as evidence.

They assert that it demonstrates the lawsuit's intention to undermine a competitor. Musk owns xAI, the creator of Grok.

"It helps demonstrate motive and prejudice, specifically that Mr. Musk's reason for pursuing this lawsuit is to target a rival and its leaders," the attorneys stated.

The civil litigation, Musk vs OpenAI, commenced with jury selection on April 27 in Oakland, California.

Musk testified last week, describing the company's shift to a for-profit model as a"bait-and-switch."

"Essentially, they're attempting to seize a charity, and we're striving to prevent that," Musk said.

Brockman is anticipated to be questioned regarding his private diaries from the period before Musk departed the company in 2018.

"His explanation will likely be that we weren’t straightforward with him about still pursuing the for-profit path without him," one diary entry by Brockman mentions, referring to Musk.