Altman asks Musk to call Sutskever over Google counteroffer

From:: Sam Altman
Date:: November 18, 2015 (Sent Wednesday 1:06 PM)
To:: Elon Musk (and Ilya Sutskever)

Partial text. Only these passages were published; [...] marks a gap.

Elon, as we discussed, Ilya is trying to decide between leaving YCAI and a massive counteroffer from Google. I think talking to you would help him make the right choice. [...] It sounds like he's free after 5:00 PM. Sam.

About this email

Altman tells Musk that Sutskever is weighing the new lab against a massive Google counteroffer and asks Musk to call him.

Notes

Text is as read aloud by counsel at Sutskever's deposition (deposition Exhibit 3, Bates 2024MUSK-0005305), not the document itself; a phone number between the two passages was omitted, and the transcript's wording ('leaving YCAI') may reflect a reading or transcription slip. Subject line not stated.

Where it came from

Court record; attribution confirmed.

Musk v. Altman (N.D. Cal., No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR), Dkt. 391-46 (Ilya Sutskever deposition, Oct. 1, 2025; emails read into the record)

OpenAI, executive & internal. Tags: recruiting, ilya-sutskever, google, counteroffers, musk-v-openai

Earlier email Search all emails Later email