Introduction to Shivon Zilis and Elon Musk's Relationship
A former OpenAI board member, Shivon Zilis, has detailed how her unique personal relationship with Elon Musk led to her having four of his children.
Zilis testified for several hours on Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, as part of Musk's lawsuit attempting to reverse OpenAI's transition to a for-profit company.
Zilis's Testimony and Musk's Sperm Donation Offer
The focus of Zilis's testimony was her direct involvement in early discussions with Musk regarding OpenAI's change to a for-profit status, as well as her professional and personal connections with Musk during her advisory role at OpenAI.
"I still really wanted to be a mum and Elon made the offer around that time and I accepted,"
she explained, revealing that Musk had offered to donate sperm.
"[He] was encouraging everyone around him at that time to have kids and he'd noticed I did not. He offered to make a donation,"
Zilis stated.
Professional Background and Role at OpenAI
Shivon Zilis has been a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley for over 15 years and has held executive positions at Musk's companies Tesla and Neuralink.
She joined OpenAI as a board member in 2016, shortly after its founding, a role through which she first met Musk.
Significance in the Trial and Allegations
Due to her involvement across Musk's companies and OpenAI, Zilis is a key witness in the ongoing trial. OpenAI's legal team has suggested that she transmitted information about OpenAI to Musk after he left the AI company in 2018, which he co-founded and initially funded.
Personal Relationship and Family Details
Zilis described having a "one-off" romantic relationship with Musk about ten years ago but clarified that they were not romantically involved around 2020 when Musk offered to father her children.
She explained that health issues had altered her original plans to pursue a traditional path of marriage and children with a romantic partner.
Initially, Zilis did not expect Musk to be an active father to the first two children she had by him, and they agreed to keep his paternity "strictly confidential."
Currently, Musk is actively involved in the lives of their four children, with the family spending "a few hours a week" together, according to Zilis.
She also noted that the initial confidentiality agreement was why she did not disclose to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that the twins she gave birth to in 2021 were fathered by Musk.
Zilis informed Altman of Musk's paternity the following year after learning of an imminent Business Insider report on the matter.
Despite this, Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman wished for Zilis to remain on OpenAI's board. Zilis stated that the three remained friends until at least 2023.
Corporate Discussions and Internal Communications
The case includes years of history, including emails and text messages among Zilis, Altman, Brockman, and Musk. OpenAI's lawyers highlighted various discussions about changing the company's corporate structure.
As early as 2017, moving away from a pure non-profit was considered necessary to enable growth and raise billions from investors, according to written exchanges involving Musk presented in court.
Brockman and co-founder Ilya Sutskever advocated for transitioning OpenAI to a B Corp, a for-profit entity committed to a specific mission.
Emails from Zilis revealed that Musk sought greater control over OpenAI, proposing additional board seats and even suggesting that OpenAI become part of Tesla, potentially as a B Corp subsidiary.
Zilis said such a move for OpenAI "solves the funding issue immediately."
Ultimately, Altman, Brockman, and Sutskever could not agree to terms with Musk, largely because they insisted Musk "not have control" over OpenAI's work, according to an email from Zilis shown in court.
Comments from OpenAI Leadership and Zilis's Departure
When questioned about Zilis's continued involvement with OpenAI after Musk's departure, Brockman stated,
"We trusted her to keep the Elon conflict under control."
Zilis left the OpenAI board in March 2023, coinciding with Musk's launch of xAI, an AI company developing a chatbot that directly competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
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