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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand yesterday in Musk v. Altman, the chaotic, embarrassing, and yet deeply illuminating lawsuit — filed against Altman by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man — that’s been gripping Silicon Valley for the past few weeks. As expected, Altman’s testimony, delivered under threat of perjury, was fascinating for a number of reasons. Among them: the OpenAI CEO’s allegation that, during important meetings, Musk has a habit of… making everyone look at memes on his phone.
Per New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac, Altman confirmed to the court that there was once a meeting to discuss Tesla, Musk’s electric carmaker, possibly absorbing OpenAI. Which would’ve been a big deal, especially because this whole case is about Musk accusing Altman of turning OpenAI from a non-profit to a for-profit. During this seemingly very important meeting, however, Altman claimed that Musk held up talks by making everyone look at memes with him.
There was a “LONG long period of time with Elon showing us memes on his phone,” Altman told the court. According to Isaac, the court reporter then asked Altman to loudly repeat: “MEMES ON HIS PHONE.”
Though Altman’s ability — or alleged lack thereof — to be “consistently candid” has been scrutinized by everyone from the former OpenAI board to Ronan Farrow, this allegation sounds just about right for Musk’s internet-addled brain. This is the guy who, as a 50-something father of more than a dozen kids, was reply-guying to Hailey “Hawk Tuah girl” Welch on X-formerly-Twitter, the platform he was so obsessed with that he bought for a mind-boggling price (though he did try to wiggle out of the deal.) Last year, alongside a “Star Wars” meme, he declared that “memes are the most information-dense form of communication.”
And according to an image the centi-billionaire shared on X in 2022, the items on his personal nightstand included a replica of a gun from a videogame, a flintlock gun held in a case that also featured an image of George Washington crossing the Delaware, some kind of amulet, and a whole bunch of cans of caffeine-free can of Diet Coke. This is the nightstand of a man who pauses meetings that could well have altered the course of tech history to make a room full of other adults watch as he scrolls through memes he likes.
My bedside table pic.twitter.com/sIdRYJcLTK — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Anyway, perfect stuff, guys. Our biggest takeaway from the trial so far? That HBO’s “Silicon Valley” show was actually a documentary.
More on Musk v. Altman: Under Threat of Perjury, OpenAI’s Former CTO Is Admitting Some Very Interesting Stuff About Sam Altman