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.
Anyway, perfect stuff, guys. Our biggest takeaway from the trial so far? That HBO’s “Silicon Valley” show was actually a documentary.
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