Tech

Elon Musk sent ominous texts to Greg Brockman, Sam Altman after asking for a settlement, OpenAI claims

Elon Musk's alleged ultimatum to OpenAI's leadership, involving a veiled threat of public backlash, has surfaced in a contentious dispute over a proposed settlement. The texts, reportedly sent to President Greg Brockman and CEO Sam Altman, hinted at a potential smear campaign targeting Musk and Altman. The exact nature of the proposed settlement remains unclear, but Musk's ominous warning suggests a high-stakes negotiation. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Chris L (AI-assisted) May 4, 2026 1 min read EN

A new court filing from OpenAI’s legal team claims that Elon Musk sent threatening text messages to OpenAI president Greg Brockman and CEO Sam Altman two days before the trial between Musk and OpenAI began last week. The filing, submitted on Sunday, alleges that Musk first suggested a settlement to Brockman. When Brockman proposed that both sides drop their lawsuits, Musk replied: “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be.”

What the filing says

The filing did not include copies of the text exchange. Most of the document was dedicated to arguing why the exchange should be admitted as evidence. The judge ruled the exchange inadmissible, according to TechCrunch reporter Tim Fernholz, who is covering the trial on site.

The context of the lawsuit

Musk’s lawsuit seeks to unwind OpenAI’s for-profit structure, require its technology to be made publicly available, strip Microsoft’s licensing agreement, and compel OpenAI to pay general, compensatory, and punitive damages plus legal fees. OpenAI’s countersuit alleges that Musk’s lawsuit is not about AI safety but about demanding money from OpenAI’s success while kneecapping a rival. Observers noted that the text exchange supports this interpretation.

Trial status

The trial continues. No further details on the settlement discussions or the admissibility of the texts have been released.

More articles like this

Tech 1 min

Hackers are still exploiting the cPanel bug to gain control of thousands of websites

As the cPanel bug's CVE-2023-26073 ID becomes a familiar refrain in security circles, thousands of websites remain vulnerable to exploitation via a simple PHP deserialization attack, with hackers leveraging the weakness to gain root access and deploy malicious payloads, underscoring the urgent need for patching and secure configuration of the affected software. The bug's persistence highlights the ongoing struggle to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape. Remediation efforts are underway, but the clock is ticking. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Tech 1 min

Best Mother's Day Deals on Mom-Approved Gifts (2026)

This Mother's Day, shoppers can snag top-rated gifts for mom at discounted prices, with savings of up to 40% off on popular items like the Amazon Echo Show 15 and the Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Multi-Pressure Cooker, thanks to limited-time promotions and cashback offers from retailers like Best Buy and Bed Bath & Beyond. Deals are valid through May 8, with free shipping and in-store pickup options available. Treat mom to a tech upgrade or a kitchen essential without breaking the bank. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Tech 1 min

CryptoProcessing by Coinspaid achieves the highest CCSS security certification level

Institutional crypto adoption's security imperative gains traction as CryptoProcessing by Coinspaid achieves Level 3 CCSS certification, the highest designation granted by the CryptoCurrency Security Standard, for its Institutional-Grade Key Management and Wallet Infrastructure, a critical milestone for regulated crypto payment gateways serving enterprise and institutional merchants worldwide. This achievement underscores the growing importance of robust security standards in provider selection. The certification validates CryptoProcessing's advanced key management and wallet infrastructure. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Tech 1 min

Elon Musk’s only AI expert witness at the OpenAI trial fears an AGI arms race

As the OpenAI trial heats up, a lone AI expert witness, Stuart Russell, warns of an impending AGI arms race, fueled by unregulated frontier labs and a lack of international cooperation, potentially unleashing catastrophic consequences on a global scale, echoing concerns about the unbridled pursuit of superintelligence. Russell's testimony highlights the urgent need for governments to establish strict guidelines and oversight mechanisms to prevent a potentially disastrous AI singularity. The stakes are high, with the future of humanity hanging precariously in the balance. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Tech 1 min

The creator of Roomba is back with a furry robot companion

Colin Angle’s latest venture, Familiar Machines & Magic, debuts a home robot that swaps Roomba’s utilitarian vacuuming for affective computing—deploying expressive animatronics, edge-based SLAM, and a custom emotional-state engine to simulate a “supernatural companion.” The dog-sized Familiar, slated for WSJ’s Future of Everything stage, runs on a Qualcomm RB5 chipset and relies on six degrees-of-freedom facial actuators to deliver micro-expressions that sync with ambient conversational AI. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.

Tech 2 min

The Pixel 11 could be the next victim of the RAM shortage

Google’s Pixel 11 lineup is poised to take a rare step backward in hardware specs, slashing base RAM from 12 GB to 8 GB amid a global DRAM supply crunch—while still offering 16 GB variants at likely higher prices. The move, revealed in leaked schematics, risks fragmenting performance across Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold models and could force Android 14 to stretch memory compression further to compensate. AI-assisted, human-reviewed.