Musk: 'My control of OpenAI is limited'

From:: Elon Musk
Date:: June 13, 2016 (Sent between 2:19 PM and 4:08 PM, when Birchall forwarded it to myCFO; exact time not shown)
To:: Jared Birchall
Subject:: Pioneer building lease

This building will be used for more than OpenAI. My control of OpenAI is limited. There is more than one donor and there will ultimately be many donors. I'm personally on the hook for the building, so it needs to be a building over which I have full control.

About this email

Musk says the Pioneer Building will be used for more than OpenAI, that his control of OpenAI is limited and it will have many donors, and that since he is personally liable for the building he needs full control of it.

Notes

Appears in the exhibit as a message forwarded by Jared Birchall to Musk's myCFO advisers on June 13, 2016 at 4:08 PM; the remainder of the chain is between Birchall and Ron Gong.

Where it came from

Court record; attribution confirmed.

Musk v. Altman (N.D. Cal., No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR), Dkt. 391-8 (Exhibit 38, public redacted version, filed Jan. 16, 2026)

OpenAI, executive & internal. Tags: pioneer-building, lease, control, donors, musk-v-openai

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