'Cringey' private diary entries and texts from Elon Musk and Sam Altman revealed as two go head-to-head in court

The battle of the billionaires is just getting started, with Elon Musk and Sam Altman both set to testify in court.

While the pair once seemed thick as thieves when they were among the 11 co-founders of OpenAI and sat as co-chairs, their relationship soon soured.

Mr. Musk stepped away from OpenAI's board of directors in 2018, citing a potential conflict of interest as Tesla started to move into the AI space.

The dynamic duo is no stranger to exchanging barbs online and in interviews, with Musk frequently referring to 'Scam Altman'. Altman has returned fire by saying that Musk is an unhappy person, claiming that he's brought forward the OpenAI case because "his whole life is from a position of insecurity."

Why are Elon Musk and Sam Altman going to court?

Elon Musk maintains that Altman and other OpenAI executives have prioritized profits over AI safety, seemingly going against the company's modus operandi to "ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."

With OpenAI valued at $852 billion in April 2026, Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages, also naming Microsoft.

As one of the biggest companies in the world, Musk's filing argues that Microsoft has turned OpenAI into a "closed-source de facto subsidiary." Musk has vowed to give any damages awarded to OpenAI's charitable arm, but that assumes that he wins the case.

Although Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers claims the wealth and power of these men won't be a factor in how the case proceeds, it's already in danger of being sensationalised like Depp v Heard or the Michael Jackson trial.

In the meantime, there's plenty of juicy gossip, with The Washington Post referring to 'cringey' texts and messages between them and others.

What do court documents reveal about Elon Musk and Sam Altman?

The Post has given us the five biggest revelations from the court filings, notably grilling Musk on allegations he took 'rhino ketamine' at Burning Man in 2017 and whether it would be relevant to the trial or considered inflammatory.

There's the allegation that Shivon Zilis acted as a mole for Musk inside OpenAI, with a text exchange between the billionaire and the (now) mother of four of his children shared by the outlet.

Here, Zilis writes: "Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAl to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance for how to do right by you is appreciated."

Whereas Zilis supports Musk's claim that OpenAI changed its structure against his wishes, OpenAI argues that her credibility is undermined by a romantic relationship that the pair 'concealed'.

Despite Musk and Mark Zuckerberg having their own beef in the past, a February 2025 text from the latter sees him offering support to the world's richest man.

While those two might've put their differences aside, the documents also include emails from 2016 where Musk mentions Jeff Bezos and tells Altman he's rather work with Microsoft because the Amazon overlord "is a bit of a tool."

Finally, there's an excerpt from the diary of OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Greg Brockman, who was seemingly agonizing over whether Musk or Altman should lead the company in 2017. The journal reads: "Such upside. This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon. Is he the 'glorious leader' that I would pick? We truly have a chance to make this happen. Financially what will take me to $1B?"

Elsewhere, Brockman's musings suggest it would be wrong to make OpenAI for-profit without including Musk: "It’d be wrong to steal the non-profit from him...That’d be pretty morally bankrupt. And he’s really not an idiot."

With Musk already taking to the stand, the trial is expected to last around three weeks and include testimony from Altman, Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and a number of other key figures who were influential in OpenAI's arrival on the AI scene.