Shivon Zilis, Mother of Musk Children, Testifies in OpenAI Trial Shivon Zilis, a former board member of OpenAI Inc. and the mother of four of Elon Musk’s children, took the stand on the sixth day of a high-profile trial in Oakland, California. The case centers on Musk’s lawsuit against two of his co-founders, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, whom he alleges have prioritized personal gain over the nonprofit mission of the artificial intelligence startup. Zilis, who has a complex relationship with Musk, provided insights into the inner workings of OpenAI and the dynamics between its co-founders. Zilis joined OpenAI in 2016 and served on its board of directors for several years, acting as a liaison between Musk and the firm’s other co-founders after their relationship soured. She left the board in 2023 following Musk’s launch of a competing AI company, xAI, and has since worked at Musk’s brain science startup, Neuralink, and Tesla, where Musk is CEO. During her testimony, Zilis described her evolving relationship with Musk, which began with a “one-off” encounter at a corporate event and later developed into a romantic partnership. She emphasized that her role as a board member was guided by her commitment to “AI for humanity,” not personal ties to Musk. Musk’s legal team, led by Jennifer Schubert, questioned Zilis about her loyalties, particularly regarding her interactions with Altman and Brockman. Schubert asked if Zilis’s role was to “funnel information to Elon,” to which she replied, “Funnel? Absolutely not.” Zilis also addressed a message she sent to Musk in 2017, in which she referred to the “trust game” as a metaphor for her interactions with other board members.#elon_musk #sam_altman #shivon_zilis #greg_brockman #openai_inc
