Greg Brockman Testifies OpenAI Will Spend $50 Billion on Computing in Musk v. Altman Trial

OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified that OpenAI expects to burn through $50 billion on computing power this year, describing the “staggering cost of running the world’s most advanced AI models.”

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The figure was disclosed during Brockman’s second day on the witness stand in the Musk v. Altman trial, which is being held in Oakland federal court and centers on Musk’s claim that OpenAI “betrayed OpenAI’s founding mission as a nonprofit by transforming it into a for-profit enterprise.”

Ars Technica

Brockman’s testimony placed OpenAI’s infrastructure spending in sharp historical context, with computing costs “surged from roughly $30 million in 2017 to tens of billions of dollars today,” as described in the Technobezz report.

Technobezz also said that Brockman disclosed for the first time that his personal stake in OpenAI is worth nearly $30 billion, and that he told the court he did not personally invest any money in the company.

In the same trial setting, Digital Journal reported Brockman told a California jury that Elon Musk “physically threatened him” during a 2017 confrontation, saying “I actually thought he was going to hit me.”

Digital Journal further reported that Brockman said OpenAI now spends $50 billion a year on computing power “compared to just $30 million in 2017,” framing the scale of the technology as a reason a charity-style organization could not “foot the bill.”

A central thread in the trial has been Brockman’s personal diary, which multiple outlets describe as becoming a focal point for Musk’s attorneys as they argue that OpenAI’s leadership was motivated by personal enrichment rather than the original nonprofit mission.

The Guardian reported that “focus shifted to the company’s president, Greg Brockman,” as Musk’s case against OpenAI entered its second week, and it said the diary provided “a consistent line of attack for Musk’s attorneys.”

Business Insider

The Guardian quoted Brockman’s writing, including “Financially what will take me to $1B?” and described how Musk’s lead attorney Steven Molo repeatedly read excerpts to the court while pressing Brockman on what the entries meant.

Ars Technica reported that Brockman told OpenAI lawyer Sarah Eddy, “It’s very painful,” and said Brockman described the entries as “a stream of consciousness” rather than a straightforward log, with notes sometimes reflecting “another person’s thoughts.”

Ars Technica also said Brockman estimated his journal has “about 100 pages of entries,” and that he testified he started the journal in school and continued using it to mull over “big decisions in his professional life.”

In parallel, New York Post described the same “Financially what will take me to $1B?” line and said Musk’s lawyer Steven Molo grilled Brockman over diary entries while the then-nonprofit charity received millions in donations from Musk.

Alongside the diary, Brockman’s testimony repeatedly returned to his personal financial position in OpenAI and his outside investments, with multiple outlets describing how those disclosures were used to frame incentives in the nonprofit-to-for-profit dispute.

“- Greg Brockman on Monday confirmed that OpenAI is exploring an IPO”

Business Insider

Forbes reported that Brockman testified his stake in OpenAI is worth more than $20 billion and “closer to $30 billion,” and it quoted Brockman’s response to Musk’s lawyer Steven Molo: “I think that may be true, yes.”

Forbes also said Musk’s team presented an email from 2015 in which Brockman wrote he would personally donate $100,000 to OpenAI, and it reported Brockman testified he never ended up donating that.

Business Insider reported Brockman confirmed OpenAI is exploring an IPO and said his personal stake is worth “nearly $30 billion,” while also describing that Brockman testified to a $471 million investment in Stripe and a stake in Corweave.

Business Insider further said Brockman acknowledged his writings were taken out of context and quoted him saying, “That was an expression of frustration, not a plan,” when asked about diary entries about flipping to profit.

The Tech Buzz outlet described the trial’s “most damaging moment” as coming from a question about the charter’s requirement for safe AI on an open-source basis with “no individual permitted to profit personally,” and it quoted Brockman’s response: “That’s not what we did.”

The trial record described by multiple outlets also links Brockman’s testimony to OpenAI’s compute relationships and to the AI chip startup Cerebras, with Musk’s lawyers using those connections to press potential conflicts.

Technobezz said Brockman confirmed that OpenAI is exploring an initial public offering and that he testified to a $471 million investment in Stripe and “a stake in Corweave, a cloud computing provider that has a deal with OpenAI,” while also noting the trial’s structure in Oakland federal court.

Forbes

The Tech Buzz outlet, meanwhile, described a “Cerebras Conflict” and said that in 2017 Brockman personally invested in Cerebras and that Altman separately invested as well.

It reported that during roughly the same period Brockman participated in OpenAI discussions about a financial transaction with Cerebras, and it stated that in December 2025 OpenAI signed a $10 billion compute agreement with Cerebras plus a $1 billion loan.

The Tech Buzz report then said that in February 2026 Cerebras’s valuation tripled “from roughly $8 billion to $23 billion” on the strength of OpenAI’s commitments, and it added that in April OpenAI expanded the relationship through 2029 to over $20 billion.

Forbes added that Brockman acknowledged his personal equity in AI chipmaker Cerebras likely gained value after OpenAI inked a $10 billion chip-purchasing agreement with the company in January, and it said Cerebras’s valuation jumped from $8 billion last September to $23 billion thanks to a funding round announced in February.

Beyond the diary and financial ties, the trial testimony described by outlets also includes claims about safety and about Musk’s conduct toward OpenAI leadership, with Brockman’s statements and Musk’s framing presented as competing narratives.

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Financial Times

Digital Journal reported Brockman testified that when Musk announced his departure from OpenAI in February 2018, Brockman told staff he intended to pursue AI development inside Tesla “without regard for safety,” and it quoted Brockman’s testimony of Musk’s alleged line: “If the sheep are dictating safety and the wolves are not, then there’s no purpose.”

Marcus on AI

In the same Digital Journal report, OpenAI counters that Musk left voluntarily after failing to seize majority control and has become the company’s direct competitor through xAI, and it said OpenAI’s legal team argues the timeline proves Musk was aware of the commercial pivot and that his 2024 lawsuit filed after he launched rival lab xAI is “meritless.”

The Guardian described how Musk’s lawsuit seeks “the undoing of the for-profit restructuring and $134bn,” and it said Musk is seeking Altman and Brockman’s removal from leadership roles.

Technobezz said the judge has split proceedings into a liability phase followed by a potential remedies phase, where Musk’s lawyers have argued he is owed up to $134 billion in wrongful gains.

For the immediate next steps, Digital Journal said “Altman is expected to testify as early as next week,” while Ars Technica reported Brockman had been “stuck for days” reading diary entries aloud and that the journal was unsealed in January after being submitted as evidence in October.