Shivon Zilis Emerges as Key Figure in Musk vs. OpenAI Trial

As the inaugural week of the Musk v. Altman trial concludes, one individual has emerged as a pivotal behind-the-scenes orchestrator of communications and relationships during OpenAI's formative years: Shivon Zilis.

Zilis, a longstanding associate of Elon Musk and mother to four of his children, initially joined OpenAI as an advisor in 2016. She subsequently served as a director on its nonprofit board from 2020 to 2023 and has held executive positions at Musk's other enterprises, Neuralink and Tesla.

During court proceedings, Musk provided varied descriptions of his relationship with Zilis. At one juncture, he referred to her as a "chief of staff," while at another moment, he described her as a "close advisor." He also mentioned, "we live together and she's the mother of four of my children." However, Zilis clarified in a deposition that Musk is more of a regular visitor and maintains his own residence. Last September, Zilis informed OpenAI's attorneys that her romantic involvement with Musk began around 2016 after she had assumed the role of an informal advisor to the organization. She noted that they had their first two children in 2021.

Yet, testimony and evidence presented by OpenAI's legal team suggest that her most significant function in this case has been as a covert liaison between Musk and OpenAI, long after he exited the nonprofit's board in February 2018.

The Covert Communications

On February 16, 2018, days before OpenAI publicly announced Musk's departure from the board, Zilis sent him a text message stating, "Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance for how to do right by you is appreciated." Musk responded, asserting, "Close and friendly, but we are going to actively try to move three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. More than that will join over time, but we won't actively recruit them."

When questioned about this exchange during his testimony, Musk explained he "wanted to know what's going on."

Later in the same text conversation, Musk indicated there was "little chance of OpenAI being a serious force if I focus on Tesla AI." Zilis supported this notion, stating, "There is very low probability of a good future if someone doesn't slow Demis down," referring to the leader of Google DeepMind, whom Musk has expressed concerns about concerning superintelligent AI systems. She emphasized, "You don't realize how much you have an ability to influence him directly or otherwise slow him down. I think you know I'm not a malicious person but in this case it feels fundamentally irresponsible to not find a way to slow or alter his path."

Continued Intelligence Gathering

Approximately two months later, on April 23, 2018, Zilis emailed Musk with updates on OpenAI's fundraising endeavors and the progress of a project aimed at developing an AI capable of playing video games. In the same correspondence, she mentioned reallocating most of her time from OpenAI to Musk's other ventures, Neuralink and Tesla, but stated, "if you'd prefer I pull more hours back to OpenAI oversight please let me know."

Earlier, in the summer of 2017, negotiations were underway among OpenAI's cofounders regarding changes to the organization's corporate structure—Musk had sought control of the company from the outset. In an email dated August 28, 2017, Zilis informed Musk that she had met with Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever to discuss the distribution of equity in the new company. She recounted the meeting's discussions, noting that Brockman and Sutskever believed that unilateral control over AGI should not rest with a single individual. Musk replied, "This is very annoying. Please encourage them to go start a company. I've had enough."

Managing Both Sides

The negotiations persisted into the fall, with Zilis continuing to act as a trusted intermediary. On September 20, 2017, in an email thread where Sutskever shared concerns with Altman and Musk about Musk's potential control over OpenAI, Zilis was copied on the correspondence.

Two days later, Zilis communicated with Musk about her discussions with Altman, Brockman, and Sutskever regarding their commitment to preserving OpenAI's nonprofit structure, summarizing their views on the issue. During this period, Zilis also undertook operational tasks, such as soliciting bids for security services at the office building shared by OpenAI and Neuralink, as evidenced by emails.

Even after Musk departed from OpenAI's board in February 2018, Zilis continued her role as a liaison between him and the organization's leadership for several years. On Wednesday, Musk testified that Zilis never conveyed any sensitive information regarding OpenAI that she was not authorized to share.

While keeping Musk informed about OpenAI’s developments, Zilis similarly provided guidance to Altman on managing his relationship with the Tesla CEO. On October 23, 2022, a tense text message from Musk prompted a reaction from Altman...