Ilya Sutskever stands by his role in Sam Altman's OpenAI ouster

At a glance:

• Ilya Sutskever revealed he holds an ownership stake in OpenAI's for-profit arm worth roughly $7 billion, making him one of the largest known individual shareholders.
• Sutskever testified he helped lead Sam Altman's removal as CEO in 2023 and did not regret it, saying he "didn't want it to be destroyed."
• His testimony undercut Elon Musk's central claim by confirming OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model was a consensus decision, not a betrayal of prior commitments.

Sutskever's stake and his fractured ties to the founding team

Monday's testimony in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft put former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever in the spotlight. He revealed that his ownership stake in OpenAI's $850-billion for-profit arm is currently worth about $7 billion — making him one of the largest known individual shareholders of the company. Earlier in the trial, OpenAI president Greg Brockman had acknowledged for the first time that he holds around $30 billion worth of OpenAI shares. Brockman was one of the research lab's original cofounders, and Sutskever joined shortly afterward, famously turning down a $6 million annual compensation offer from Google to do so.

Brockman told the court that he and Sutskever were "joined at the hip" until Sutskever helped lead Sam Altman's brief removal as OpenAI CEO in November 2023. Sutskever had helped collect evidence to show Altman's alleged history of deception and even assisted in drafting a memo to the board. Though the two cofounders tried to repair the relationship, Sutskever has been estranged from both Brockman and Altman ever since, a lawyer for OpenAI said on Monday. Sutskever, who arrived in the courtroom wearing a dress shirt and slacks — the first male witness to testify without a suit jacket — appeared dejected about no longer being involved with OpenAI. He left and formed a competing AI lab in 2024.

"I felt a great deal of ownership of OpenAI," Sutskever said at one point during his testimony. "I felt like I put my life into it, and I simply cared for it, and I didn't want it to be destroyed."

The 2023 ouster and what Sutskever told the court

Sutskever's testimony bolstered Elon Musk's broader contention that Altman is not the right person to lead an AI lab that could create artificial general intelligence. He described the superalignment team he helped lead — which focused on the safety of future models — as doing "the most important work" at OpenAI "for the long term." That team was disbanded in May 2024, shortly after Sutskever left the company.

Sutskever said he supported firing Altman because an "environment where executives don't have the correct information" is not "conducive to reach any grand goal." But he also criticized his board colleagues for rushing the process, lacking experience, and accepting "legal advice that wasn't very good." When US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked him how more computing helped OpenAI level up, he offered an analogy: "I would describe it as the difference between an ant and a cat. If there's no funding, there is no big computer."

In what proved to be a double-edged contribution to the trial, Sutskever also reinforced OpenAI's defense. Musk's central allegation is that Altman and Brockman violated promises made during the nonprofit's early days by pivoting to a lucrative for-profit arm. Sutskever countered that OpenAI needed "a lot of dollars" to build a computer as big as the human brain, and while seeking donations had some "reasonable success," becoming a for-profit was the consensus way forward. Musk's attorneys had unsuccessfully sought to treat Sutskever as a hostile witness because of his financial stake, but Gonzalez Rogers agreed to give both sides extra leeway in questioning him due to what she described as his "unique position" in the case.

Nadella's testimony and Microsoft's growing demands

Much of Monday's proceedings also centered on the well-documented events of Altman's ouster and reinstatement in November 2023. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stand and described Sutskever and other board members firing Altman as "amateur city," reiterating that he "never got clarity" about the alleged lack of candor that led to their decision. Nadella acknowledged that he and colleagues discussed 14 potential board members who would join OpenAI if Altman returned, including at least two whom the Microsoft group vetoed and one who later joined. He described Microsoft's input as suggestions.

Nadella's testimony also addressed the financial friction at the heart of Musk's lawsuit. Musk accused Microsoft of helping transform OpenAI into a moneymaking machine beyond what he intended. Nadella testified that Microsoft had initially supported OpenAI with discounted cloud computing but could no longer afford to do so "once the bill started going up." A for-profit arm that Microsoft could invest in, in exchange for potential financial returns, was more palatable. Internal emails from 2022 show Nadella writing to his lieutenants: "Microsoft will lose 4 bil next year!!!" He pushed for a new agreement ensuring Microsoft would also get AI "know-how" from the startup. "If we are going to spend this kind of money and not have control of destiny, it makes no sense," Nadella wrote.

Musk's attorneys pointed to text messages from early 2023 in which Nadella told Altman "sooner is best" to offer paying subscriptions for ChatGPT and then asked about the number of signups just a couple of weeks later. The partnership has worked out well for Microsoft — as of March 2025, Microsoft had generated $9.5 billion in sales from OpenAI, including through an agreement where the research lab shares 20 percent of its revenue with the tech giant. Microsoft also stands to benefit slightly more than OpenAI's nonprofit owner if the AI company ever generates profits. Nadella contended the setup was fair given the risks Microsoft took early on and noted its profit claim would be even bigger if OpenAI were a regular company.

Bret Taylor's praise for Altman

OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor closed Monday's proceedings by giving Sam Altman a glowing review. Taylor noted that Altman had recused himself from approving a content and technology deal signed in 2024 with Reddit, in which Altman holds a stake. Altman did get involved to help "bring down the temperature" when negotiations with Reddit started veering toward a potential lawsuit, Taylor said.

"He's been forthright with me and the other board members and grown OpenAI in ways that have exceeded my expectations," Taylor added. Altman is scheduled to tell his side of the story to jurors on Tuesday.

What comes next

Sutskever's testimony painted a picture of a scientist who played a central role in reshaping OpenAI's leadership and strategic direction, then watched the organization move on without him. His acknowledgment that the for-profit pivot was a consensus decision — not a stealth betrayal — dealt a meaningful blow to Musk's legal theory, even as his criticism of the board's handling of Altman's ouster gave ammunition to Musk's broader argument about Altman's fitness to lead an AGI lab.

The trial is now entering its final stretch. With Nadella, Sutskever, and Taylor having taken the stand, Altman's testimony on Tuesday will likely be the last major piece of testimony from the core protagonists. How he addresses the allegations of deception, the 2023 boardroom coup, and the financial restructuring that followed will shape the jury's understanding of who OpenAI is today — and who should control its future.