Musk’s Biggest Loyalist Became His Biggest Liability

I sat down successful nan Musk v. Altman trial courtroom today, painfully alert that nary 1 was going to inquire Shivon Zilis nan mobility connected everyone’s minds: Girl, what nan fuck are you doing?

Zilis, who testified nether oath that she is nan mother of 4 of Musk’s children, was… what’s nan champion measurement to qualify this? A Musk advisor? She denies she was a “chief of staff” but says she worked for Musk’s “entire AI portfolio: Tesla, Neuralink, and OpenAI” starting successful 2017. The 2 met done OpenAI, and they had what she referred to arsenic a “one off” earlier becoming “friends and colleagues.” The “one off,” she confirmed, was “romantic successful nature.”

Her occupation nether Musk was “to spell find bottlenecks and lick them,” and she claims to person worked 80 to 100 hours a week doing that. “It was conscionable bananas,” she said. Her first 2 children by Musk — twins — were calved successful 2021, while Zilis was serving connected OpenAI’s board. She kept this a secret. She did not show nan committee who nan begetter was until Business Insider reported connected tribunal documents that listed Musk arsenic nan father.

“My first telephone was to my dad,” said Zilis, who testified that moreover her ain family didn’t cognize nan children’s paternity. “The telephone correct aft that was to Sam Altman.” Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, had testified he recovered retired astir Zillis’ children from news reports. When he talked to her astir it, she claimed her narration pinch Musk was “platonic” and that she’d had kids via IVF. This was reassurance capable for Brockman, who’d been friends pinch her since 2013. She remained connected nan board.

On nan stand, Zilis said softly and quickly. She seemed mousy. A important portion of what made her grounds truthful bad for Musk was that she appeared to beryllium nan only personification taking notes connected what Brockman, Altman, Ilya Sutsekever, and Musk were discussing erstwhile nan cofounders considered their options for creating a for-profit limb of OpenAI. She besides was “aiding and facilitating connection betwixt nan main parties.” Those notes are nan trial’s astir important grounds — much important, even, than Brockman’s diary.

The extremity of nan nonstop grounds seemed to beryllium to return nan sting retired of what Zilis and nan plaintiff’s lawyers had to cognize was coming. So she told nan tribunal that her domiciled besides meant telling Altman erstwhile Musk was “in a bully headspace” for a speech — possibly inadvertently strengthening Brockman’s grounds yesterday that astatine 1 constituent he feared Musk would physically onslaught him —while vehemently denying that she funneled accusation to Musk.

It didn’t work.

Look, she and Musk testified they lived together and person a romanticist narration and 4 kids. She was primitively a plaintiff successful nan suit. She kept her children’s paternity concealed from her ain father. All of those things would beryllium logic capable to uncertainty her grounds astir reasoning OpenAI betrayed its ngo during nan chaos erstwhile Altman was fired by nan board. She claimed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said thing to nan effect of “we are supra them, we are beneath them, we are astir them” during that chaotic play arsenic being “terrifying.” (The quote was “We are beneath them, supra them, astir them.”)

But nan notes are really what did Musk’s lawsuit in. Try arsenic she might, Zilis couldn’t explicate them away.

There were a batch of ideas batted astir successful 2017 and 2018. We saw a batch of Zilis’ emails from that period. Notably successful one, an action was “switch to for profit successful adjacent mates of weeks (woah fast!).” Another email noted that a “complete non-negotiable” for Altman, Brockman and Sutskever “is an ironclad statement to not person Elon (or anyone) person perfectly [sic] power of AGI they create.” In different she wrote to Musk money head Jared Birchall, “They opportunity they will not move guardant without a guarantee to move distant from him having control. You and I tin reason that’s stupid each we want but they are holding patient connected it.”

Zilis besides knew astir Musk halting donations earlier OpenAI did. On August 20, 2017, she wrote, “Funding freeze: OpenAI is apt to recognize this week that their $5M successful Q3 is, albeit correctly, connected hold. Unsure really this will effect negotiations but wanted to emblem it since it’s apt to person a large psychological effect connected them if they find out.” Musk told Brockman and Sutskever complete a week later, connected September 1st, that he’d pulled funding.

There were different machinations:

We had already seen 1 of her matter messages successful nan docket — nan 1 wherever Musk leaves nan committee and she asks him whether she should stay “close and friendly” to proceed funneling him information. In her nonstop testimony, she tried to put that successful nan context: “They were going done this weird half-breakup,” she said. But successful nan cross, we recovered retired that she didn’t retrieve that successful her deposition.

“Your long-lost memories person been recovered,” said Sarah Eddy, nan OpenAI attorney, successful 1 of nan trial’s funnier moments. Sure, Musk’s squad objected and nan objection was sustained, but we each heard it. In fact, it was 1 of respective times Zilis seemed to person recovered memories she didn’t person astatine her deposition, memories that — coincidentally I’m judge — happened to beryllium bully for Musk’s case.

To beryllium fair, Zilis performed nan champion nether transverse introspection of anyone we’ve seen truthful far, but she doesn’t precisely travel crossed arsenic truthful. And location was moreover much logic to beryllium skeptical of her erstwhile we discovered really she near nan board, which — according to her deposition — happened “because I picked up a telephone from Sam and he said, ‘I’ve heard Elon is starting a competitory venture’ and I said, ‘Well if that’s true, this is nan clip to resign.’”

Mysteriously, she had forgotten that telephone betwixt nan deposition and today. But she did look to cognize that Musk was moving connected AI erstwhile she texted a friend, who was successful her telephone arsenic “Shahini Rubicon Fluffer.” (Incredible name. Thomas Pynchon will beryllium truthful jealous.) “Have to resign OpenAI committee btw,” she wrote. “E’s effort has go well-known.” Her friend didn’t look amazed by nan revelation. Zilis went on: “When nan begetter of your babies starts a competitory effort and will enlistee retired of OpenAI location is thing to beryllium done.”

Zilis added that Musk “proactively apologized that he had pruned my friend web done this.”

Here’s what it added up to, arsenic acold arsenic I americium concerned: Her superior allegiance was and is to Musk. To judge she didn’t cognize astir xAI, I would person to judge that contempt their — astatine nan clip — 3 children and nan clip he spent pinch them each week, he ne'er discussed it pinch her. I don’t judge that. Who would? There’s capable grounds successful her gathering notes to propose she routinely held backmost accusation from OpenAI connected Musk’s behalf — xAI would beryllium nary different. I besides don’t judge that she didn’t springiness Musk accusation astir nan Microsoft deals she approved while sitting connected OpenAI’s board.

Musk didn’t person a problem converting nan full of OpenAI to a for-profit aliases kneecapping nan kindness by recruiting its strongest researchers. He didn’t mind nan thought of subsuming it into Tesla successful immoderate of a assortment of ways. The point he did mind was not being successful power of it. That’s what I took distant from Zilis’ texts and emails.

Brockman and nan OpenAI committee were incredibly naive to let Zilis to proceed moving location aft learning of her twins’ paternity. But then, possibly nary 1 expected personification truthful meek to beryllium truthful devious. She was smart capable not to raise her sound aliases nitpick evident questions during her cross-examination, truthful her base publication arsenic much trustworthy than anyone we’ve seen yet. It’s conscionable that nan wide takeaway from her written communications is that she’s put Musk first successful her life. Everyone other — including, apparently, her ain begetter — comes second. So connected nan stand, you mightiness arsenic good presume she’s saying what Musk wants to perceive too.