Mira Murati Says Sam Altman Was ‘Creating Chaos’ at OpenAI During Musk Trial

Former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati testified in federal court on May 6 that CEO Sam Altman created distrust among senior executives as the company accelerated the development and deployment of its AI models

Murati’s recorded testimony was played in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, during the second week of billionaire Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI.

“My concern was about Sam saying one thing to one person and completely the opposite to another person,” Murati said during the testimony. She added that Altman was “creating chaos” and, at times, was deceptive with her and other executives.

The lawsuit, filed by Musk in 2024, alleges that OpenAI improperly transitioned into a for-profit company and abandoned its original charitable mission. Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, with the funds intended to benefit OpenAI’s nonprofit arm.

If successful, the case could disrupt OpenAI’s commercial ambitions and potentially benefit Musk’s competing AI venture xAI, which is now part of SpaceX.

Murati, who briefly served as OpenAI’s interim CEO after Altman was temporarily removed by the board in 2023, said the CEO often pitted executives against one another and undermined her authority as CTO. 

Despite those concerns, she said she still wanted Altman to remain Chief Executive and sought more clarity from the board about its decision to remove him.

“OpenAI was at catastrophic risk of falling apart,” Murati said. “I was concerned about the company completely blowing up.”

The trial has emerged as a critical moment for OpenAI, whose AI models have become deeply embedded across industries, schools, businesses, and government institutions.

Former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis also testified, citing internal concerns surrounding the release of ChatGPT. According to Zilis, the board “voiced extreme concern” about releasing ChatGPT “without any semblance of board communication.”

When asked whether she had internally raised concerns about Altman, Zilis said “there had been a couple of instances.”

Zilis, who is mother to four of Musk’s children, currently works at his company Neuralink.

Testimony from Musk, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and other former executives has revealed deep disagreements over OpenAI’s direction, leadership structure, and funding strategy. 

Court proceedings also disclosed that Musk had attempted to settle with Brockman days before the trial began and had at one point felt like “a fool” for continuing to fund OpenAI.