Ilya Sutskever Testifies: 52‑Page Dossier Exposes Altman's Lies and $7 B Stake

Ilya Sutskever, former chief scientist of OpenAI, took the witness stand on May 11, 2026, at the Oakland federal court hearing Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI. He testified that he had spent a year gathering evidence of Sam Altman's "systematic lying" and compiled it into a 52‑page memorandum submitted to the board.

According to Sutskever, Altman habitually lies, sows discord among senior executives, and creates an environment where executives cannot obtain accurate information, thereby hampering serious discussions about AI safety. He quoted the memorandum: "He habitually lies, stirs up senior‑management relationships, and destroys corporate governance." Sutskever added that Altman's behavior "is detrimental to achieving any grand goal, especially the development of safe AGI." He also stated, "I spent a year observing and thinking, and I conclude that firing him is appropriate."

Sutskever confirmed he holds roughly $70 billion in OpenAI equity (approximately $7 billion in stake value), a figure that shocked the courtroom. He contrasted this with OpenAI president Greg Brockman's recently disclosed $30 billion stake and Altman's estimated $3.5 billion personal wealth.

The testimony also covered broader corporate dynamics. Sutskever revealed that after Altman's brief removal in November 2023, the remaining board members met with Anthropic to discuss a possible merger that would have placed Anthropic in control of OpenAI. He said he was "not enthusiastic" about the merger, noting its timing—just before the weekend of the November 2023 coup.

Microsoft’s involvement was highlighted through emails from CEO Satya Nadella. Court documents showed Nadella calling the board‑removal episode an "amateur city" and, in early 2023, urging Altman to launch a paid ChatGPT subscription quickly and later asking about user registration numbers. Nadella also admitted that Microsoft had prepared a 14‑person "board takeover list" and exercised de‑facto veto power over OpenAI’s new board members.

Sutskever’s testimony supports Musk’s claim that Altman and former president Greg Brockman abandoned OpenAI’s original non‑profit mission in favor of profit motives. However, Sutskever clarified that he never promised Musk that OpenAI would remain non‑profit.

The article also notes the exodus of several OpenAI leaders who founded new AI ventures: Dario and Daniela Amodei (Anthropic), Mira Murati (Thinking Machines Lab), Aravind Srinivas (Perplexity), and Liam Fedus (Periodic Labs), each with multi‑billion‑dollar valuations, and suggests their departures were linked to Altman's leadership style.

Overall, the trial underscores a clash between the lofty goals of AGI development and the gritty realities of corporate power, wealth accumulation, and governance, raising fundamental questions about the future integrity of AI research.