OpenAI

Ilya’s Shocking Testimony: Altman’s Wrongdoing, Mira’s Drama, and OpenAI’s Near-Merger with Anthropic

Honghao Wang

— 4 min read
Ilya’s Shocking Testimony: Altman’s Wrongdoing, Mira’s Drama, and OpenAI’s Near-Merger with Anthropic

Silicon Valley Drama — Altman, Musk, and Ilya

The saga of Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Ilya Sutskever continues — Silicon Valley’s very own _“Empresses in the Palace”_, a tangled mix of ambition, rivalry, and philosophical clashes.

Altman Breaks Silence on His OpenAI Equity

Altman recently made a rare public comment on his zero equity stake in OpenAI:

> I really wish I had accepted equity earlier — that would have put a big dent in all the conspiracy theories.

Sharp-eyed observers have long noted that Altman holds no shares in OpenAI — something he had never explained in detail until now.

The trigger? A newly revealed 52-page testimony from Ilya, recounting the boardroom intrigue around Altman’s past ouster — testimony spurred by none other than Elon Musk.

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The Social Media Exchange

  • Altman’s Tesla Refund Receipt
  • Altman shared a screenshot of his Tesla order refund — seven years after purchase, with no car ever delivered.
  • Musk’s Response
  • Musk claimed the refund was processed within 24 hours — then accused Altman directly:
  • > You stole a non-profit organization.
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  • Musk Escalates
  • Reposting Ilya’s deposition, Musk poured fuel on the fire:
  • Altman’s Counterattack
  • Altman replied that he had turned Musk’s “legacy” into the world’s largest nonprofit and defended the restructuring process:
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Regret, but Driven by Passion

Altman’s no-equity stance dates back to 2019, when OpenAI restructured into the capped-profit LP model.

At that time:

  • He became CEO with no shares.
  • Earned only a base salary — rare in Silicon Valley.

Even when reports suggested the board might grant him 7% equity, the official announcement once again confirmed zero holdings.

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Why No Equity?

Altman has often stated:

  • He’s already financially secure from ventures like Loopt, Reddit, and multiple investments.
  • His motivation is love of technology — not money.

Yet in his latest statement, Altman:

  • Concedes not accepting equity may have been a mistake, as it fuels speculation.
  • Emphasizes his belief in shaping “the course of technology and society.”
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Personal Challenges

  • Calls OpenAI’s work “the most important scientific mission of our generation.”
  • Admits it’s “excruciatingly painful” and he has considered quitting.
  • Notes that having children has made sustaining his workload harder.
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OpenAI’s Special Equity Rule — Power Over Profit

OpenAI’s governance ensures that non-shareholding board members can vote when the safety mission conflicts with profit motives.

This means:

  • Altman’s lack of equity may actually increase his decision-making neutrality.
  • He can prioritize “Safety first” over rapid commercialization — a stance investors often resist.

Still, Altman has indirect ties:

  • Investments in OpenAI partners like Rain Neuromorphics.
  • Past indirect holdings via Sequoia Capital.
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The Cost of Zero Shares

OpenAI’s hybrid nonprofit–for-profit model has caused tension:

  • Altman’s ouster was partly due to misalignment between mission and business.
  • Conflicts with Musk spotlight these governance issues.

Ilya’s 52-Page Testimony

The deposition details:

  • A year-long plan by Ilya and then-CTO Mira Murati to remove Altman.
  • A memo citing Altman’s alleged dishonesty and manipulation.
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Examples include:

  • Discrepancies over GPT-4 Turbo’s safety committee approval.
  • Fostering rivalries between executives.

Ilya also claimed Mira said Altman was pushed out of Y Combinator — a statement denied publicly by co-founder Paul Graham.

Other revelations:

  • Ilya documented claims of Greg Brockman’s workplace bullying.
  • OpenAI once nearly merged with Anthropic.
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In the end, employee backlash and threats to resign en masse led to Altman’s reinstatement.

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Aftermath — Profit vs. Mission

Post-drama:

  • Ilya left to create an AGI safety-focused company.
  • Musk filed suit against Altman for “betraying” OpenAI’s nonprofit origins.

OpenAI today:

  • Annual revenue exceeds $13B.
  • Projected to hit $100B by 2027.

The company is reportedly mulling an IPO with a $1 trillion valuation — potentially the largest in history.

For Altman, running a nonprofit-structured company with trillion-dollar valuation may be more appealing — and powerful — than holding shares.

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Lessons for AI Creators

In the wider AI industry:

  • Balancing safety with commercial growth is crucial.
  • Creators can adopt similar strategies to retain control while scaling globally.

Platforms like AiToEarn官网 exemplify this approach:

  • Open-source ecosystem for AI-driven content creation & monetization.
  • Supports cross-platform publishing, analytics, and AI模型排名.
  • Distributes simultaneously across Douyin, Kwai, WeChat, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, and X (Twitter).

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References

  • https://x.com/sama/status/1983941806393024762
  • https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9mp6vBwxitoZcvDmG/ilya-sutskever-deposition-transcript
  • https://x.com/distributionat/status/1984924017628000296
  • https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/02/sam-altman-says-enough-to-questions-about-openais-revenue/
  • https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/19/sam-altman-once-owned-some-equity-in-openai-through-sequoia/
  • https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-founder-discusses-anthropic-merger-talks-internal-beefs-deposition?rc=p2bxcy
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnl833wXRz0

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If you’d like, I can produce a concise timeline infographic mapping the Altman–Musk conflict, Ilya’s deposition, and OpenAI’s restructuring — this would make the events easier to follow. Would you like me to create that next?

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