Musk v. Altman trial kicks off: early emails show Jensen Huang gave OpenAI a supercomputer and Musk wrote their mission

The Musk v. Altman trial is underway, and the evidence is already leaking out faster than a poorly sealed API call. We’re talking emails, photos, and corporate documents from the days before OpenAI even had a name. Some of it is genuinely fascinating, some of it feels like two billionaires airing dirty laundry in public, but hey, that’s what happens when you sue your co-founder.

One of the first big reveals: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gave OpenAI an in-demand supercomputer. That’s not a loan, not a lease — a gift. At a time when GPUs were already hard to get, Huang just handed over a machine that would have cost millions. I’d love to know what he got in return, or if he just believed in the mission back then.

Speaking of the mission, it turns out Elon Musk largely drafted OpenAI’s original mission statement and heavily influenced its early structure. That’s not surprising to anyone who’s followed the story, but seeing it in black and white — in legal exhibits — is something else. Musk has always positioned himself as the visionary who wanted to keep AI open and safe. The documents suggest he was indeed the driving force behind the non-profit’s founding ethos.

Sam Altman, meanwhile, appeared to want to lean heavily on Y Combinator for early support. That makes sense given his background, but it also hints at a tension that would only grow: Altman the startup accelerator guy vs. Musk the “I’ll fund this myself” guy.

Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever — two of the other co-founders — apparently worried about Musk’s level of control early on. That’s the kind of detail that makes this trial more than just a legal spat. It’s a window into the messy, ego-driven process of building a company that would eventually change the world.

The trial is still in its early days, and more exhibits are expected to come out. If the first batch is any indication, we’re in for a wild ride. I just hope the court doesn’t seal everything before we get the good stuff.