The Big Eleven

Of the eleven names on OpenAI's founding announcement, two remain. Where the other nine went — and what their departures became evidence of.

Show Notes

Count the founders. Of the eleven names on the December 11, 2015 OpenAI founding announcement, two remain at the company — Altman as CEO, Zaremba in research. The other nine left. Where they went. Why they left. The Anthropic counter-roster — "all seven of our founders are still here" — that's been quietly haunting OpenAI ever since. And one careful note about Suchir Balaji.

What is AI On Trial: Sam Vs. Elon & The Future of Silicon Valley?

The most valuable AI company in history is on trial — and two of its founders are on opposite sides of the courtroom.
In Oakland federal court, eight years of OpenAI's internal evidence is being made public for the first time. Sam Altman's emails. Greg Brockman's depositions. The 2015 founding dinner at the Rosewood. The 2017 power-grab attempts. The board-meeting minutes from the weekend Sam was fired and rehired. The Microsoft contract. The "charitable trust" promise that started it all.

Most of what the public knows about OpenAI was written by OpenAI. AI On Trial: Sam Vs. Elon & The Future of Silicon Valley works from a different source: the docket. Hosts David and Sloan have read every motion, every exhibit, every sealed-then-unsealed filing in Musk v. Altman — and they're walking you through the story those documents actually tell. Not the press-release version. Not the X-thread version. The version that's now under oath.