Ex-OpenAI Director Says Elon Musk Offered Sperm Donation, Fathered Four Children

Shivon Zilis served as an advisor to OpenAI from 2016 and became a board director from 2020 to 2023. She also worked at Tesla and Neuralink, giving her close ties to Elon Musk. Her testimony came in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, where Musk is suing to block OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model. The case examines early discussions about changing OpenAI's corporate structure.

Zilis said she had a brief romantic relationship with Musk about ten years earlier but was not involved with him romantically in 2020 when he made the sperm donation offer. She cited health issues that altered her original family plans.

First, Zilis said Musk offered to donate sperm in 2020 and she accepted because she wanted to become a mother. Second, she stated that Musk is actively involved in the lives of their four children, spending a few hours each week together as a family. Third, she departed from OpenAI's board in March 2023, the same month Musk launched xAI, a chatbot that competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The revelations add a personal dimension to the legal battle over OpenAI's governance, highlighting connections between Musk's personal life and his corporate ambitions. Observers may see how these relationships could influence perceptions of conflicts of interest in the AI sector.

Going forward, watch for the court's ruling on Musk's lawsuit and any further disclosures about OpenAI's board composition and its transition to a for-profit entity.