Musk’s biggest loyalist became his biggest liability

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. AI AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All AI Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Tech Elon Musk Elon MuskPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All Elon MuskMusk’s biggest loyalist became his biggest liabilityShivon Zilis’ notes might be the most important evidence we’ve seen so far. Shivon Zilis’ notes might be the most important evidence we’ve seen so far. by Elizabeth Lopatto Elizabeth LopattoSenior ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All by Elizabeth LopattoMay 6, 2026, 11:37 PM UTC Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesPart OfLive updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s court battle over the future of OpenAIsee all updates Elizabeth Lopatto Elizabeth LopattoPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Elizabeth Lopatto is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor.

Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg. I sat down in the Musk v. Altman trial courtroom today, painfully aware that no one was going to ask Shivon Zilis the question on everyone’s minds: Girl, what the fuck are you doing?

Zilis, who testified under oath that she is the mother of four of Musk’s children, was… what’s the best way to characterize this? She denies she was a “chief of staff” but says she worked for Musk’s “entire AI portfolio: Tesla, Neuralink, and OpenAI” starting in 2017. The two met through OpenAI, and they had what she referred to as a “one off” before becoming “friends and colleagues.

Industry Implications

” The “one off,” she confirmed, was “romantic in nature. ”Her job under Musk was “to go find bottlenecks and solve them,” and she claims to have worked 80 to 100 hours a week doing that. “It was just bananas,” she said.

Her first two children by Musk — twins — were born in 2021, while Zilis was serving on OpenAI’s board. She kept this a secret. She did not tell the board who the father was until Business Insider reported on court documents that listed Musk as the father.

AltmanA free, limited-run newsletter about the biggest moments from the Musk v. Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.