Microsoft CEO Nadella Reveals He Was Blindsided by Altman’s Firing — Musk Never Called Him Once

TLDR

• Satya Nadella testified in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in Oakland, California
• Nadella said he was never told in advance about Sam Altman’s firing and never received a clear explanation for it
• Musk is suing OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft, seeking up to $180 billion in damages
• OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever also testified, revealing his OpenAI stake is worth around $7 billion
• Altman is expected to take the stand later this week

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella testified on Monday in Elon Musk’s high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI and several of its leaders. The trial is being held at the US District Court in Oakland, California.

Musk is suing OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, president Greg Brockman, and Microsoft. He claims Altman and Brockman misled him into donating tens of millions of dollars to OpenAI when it was a nonprofit, only to later convert it into a for-profit company.

Nadella told the court he was pulled out of a meeting in November 2023 to be informed that Altman had been fired. He said he was not warned in advance and was never given a satisfactory reason for the decision.

Nadella said he was worried at the time that OpenAI employees would leave the company in large numbers following the firing. Altman was reinstated as CEO shortly after, in what has been referred to in the trial as “the blip.”

Microsoft’s Role Under Scrutiny

Musk’s legal team has argued that Microsoft, which has committed $13 billion to OpenAI, used its financial position to exert control over the company. Nadella pushed back on that framing during his testimony.

Nadella also confirmed that despite the two men having each other’s phone numbers, Musk never contacted him to raise concerns about Microsoft’s investment or its license for GPT-3.

A group chat between Nadella, Altman, and Microsoft’s chief technology officer Kevin Scott was shown in court. It showed Nadella approving one of Altman’s suggested candidates for a new OpenAI board seat. That person, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, joined the board in 2024.

Sutskever Testimony Adds Detail

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever also took the stand on Monday. He testified that he told the board in 2023 that Altman’s behavior was “not conducive” to building safe AI.

Sutskever confirmed that he told the board Altman had a pattern of lying and undermining executives. But he later signed a staff petition calling for Altman’s return, saying he feared the company would otherwise collapse.

He also disclosed that his stake in OpenAI is currently worth around $7 billion. Sutskever left OpenAI in May 2024 to start his own company, Safe Superintelligence, now valued at over $30 billion.

Musk is seeking up to $180 billion in damages and wants Altman and Brockman removed from their roles. Sam Altman is expected to testify later this week.

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