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The bizarre and messy court battle between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former OpenAI investor Elon Musk trudges on<\/a>. And this week, as revealed in court, OpenAI\u2019s former Chief Technology Office had some extremely interesting \u2014\u00a0and at points, alarming \u2014\u00a0things to say about her time working under Altman.<\/p>\n Appearing in a video deposition on Wednesday, former OpenAI CTO and current Thinking Machines Lab CEO Mira Murati, while under threat of perjury, had much to say about Altman\u2019s long-alleged perfidy \u2014 a rumored trait so widely discussed that it was the subject of a remarkable investigation by The New Yorker<\/a> just last month.<\/p>\n Perhaps most strikingly, Murati reportedly<\/a> told lawyers during her deposition that Altman once incorrectly told her that OpenAI\u2019s legal team had cleared a new AI model to bypass an internal safety board tasked with reviewing new models before release. Asked whether she believed Altman \u201cwas telling the truth when he made that statement\u201d to Murati, the former CTO hit back with a simple: \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words: under oath, the former CTO \u2014 and briefly interim CEO<\/a> \u2014 of the company behind the world\u2019s most popular chatbot, ChatGPT, said that OpenAI\u2019s still-reigning head exec falsely told her that lawyers had greenlit the company to leapfrog over certain safety protocols when, to the then-CTO\u2019s understanding, that wasn\u2019t true. Yikes!<\/p>\n counsel: “by fall of 2023 did you percieve altman was not candid with you? truthful? honest?” <\/p>\n murati: (very long pause) “not always” <\/p>\n counsel: did he undermine you as CTO?<\/p>\n Murati: yes.<\/p>\n counsel: did he pit other execs against one another? <\/p>\n murati: yes.<\/p>\n \u2014 rat king \ud83d\udc00 (@MikeIsaac) May 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Altman is the defendant in the case<\/a> brought by Musk, who\u2019s claiming that OpenAI illegally betrayed the company\u2019s non-profit founding by transfiguring<\/a> into a for-profit<\/a> company last year. (Musk runs his own<\/a> for-profit AI company, xAI, so make of his motivations what you will.)<\/p>\n Much of the court battle has centered on the event that insiders have referred to as the \u201cBlip,\u201d or the dizzying multi-day spell in November 2023 when OpenAI\u2019s board suddenly pushed Altman out<\/a>, alleging he \u201cwas not consistently candid in his communications with the board\u201d as its reason for the shock firing. After pushback from staff and intervention from key OpenAI investor Microsoft, however, Altman was rehired just days later \u2014\u00a0a triumphant return that kicked off a domino-like chain of other departures, Murati\u2019s included.<\/p>\n Murati was grilled about her experience of Altman in the lead-up to the \u201cBlip,\u201d with lawyers reportedly<\/a> asking her if \u201cby fall of 2023, did you perceive Altman was not candid with you? Truthful? Honest?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot always,\u201d Murati responded.<\/p>\n Lawyers went on to ask if Altman \u201cundermined\u201d Murati in her role as CTO and whether Altman pitted \u201cother execs against one another,\u201d both questions to which Murati straightforwardly responded: \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Musk v Altman: Elon Musk Just Got Badly Humiliated in Court<\/a><\/p>\n \t