Musk’s “World War III” threat in Twitter lawsuit haunts him at OpenAI trial

Key Points:

• Elon Musk attempted to settle his lawsuit against OpenAI just days before the trial, proposing to drop all claims, but OpenAI rejected the offer due to Musk’s threatening response.
• Musk’s message to OpenAI President Greg Brockman included a threat that Musk and CEO Sam Altman would become "the most hated men in America," which OpenAI wants admitted as evidence to show Musk’s true motives in the litigation.
• Typically, settlement communications are inadmissible in court, but OpenAI cited a 2022 Twitter lawsuit involving Musk where similar threatening messages were admitted because they were deemed coercive rather than conciliatory.
• OpenAI alleges Musk’s lawsuit is a harassment campaign driven by a personal grudge against Altman, and the threatening message supports their claim that Musk’s motive is to attack a competitor, not resolve the dispute.
• The judge’s decision on whether to admit Musk’s threatening message as evidence is pending, with implications for the upcoming testimony of Brockman and potential impact on future settlement negotiations.