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Musk v. Altman Is High Stakes But Also Already Ridiculous

On this week’s Uncanny Valley, the team discusses the stakes behind Elon Musk’s courtroom battle against OpenAI’s leadership (and how Microsoft is trying to stay away from the drama.) They also look into what recent layoffs announced at Meta and the industry at large say about the ways in which AI is — and isn’t — replacing jobs. Also, we dive into a WIRED investigation on how the Department of Justice has effectively hollowed out its voting rights work, and how this move could impact future elections. Subscribe to or follow Uncanny Valley wherever you get your podcasts.

Released on 04/30/2026

Transcript

These two men absolutely hate each other,

and they have for quite a long time.

But again, like just to get into the stakes a little bit,

they're really high for OpenAI.

Like the company could have to unwind its current structure.

Greg Brockman and Sam Altman could have to leave.

So like there's a lot at stake,

and obviously they're pulling out all the stops.

They have these hardcore legal teams.

All of the executives are expected to testify.

They've already been in court.

And then to give you

like a little bit of background [laughing]

on just like the color

and how ridiculous it has already been.

Like Elon Musk was promoting a New Yorker profile

about Sam Altman

that alleged he had kind of this history

of being a bit deceptive, duplicitous.

He was actually boosting that post on X

ahead of the trial.

Sam Altman was like hitting back.

And so like opening day two,

the judge says, Can you guys like cool it

on the social media thing?

I know this is unusual for you,

but you guys both need to take a break.

[presenter laughing] And they kind of agreed

to do that.

Another key moment

that I thought was really funny

was when one of the lawyer's microphones

was like going in and out,

and the judge says like, completely deadpan,

Yeah, we're funded by the federal government,

which I felt like was a dig

right to Elon Musk and DOGE. I caught it.

Little DOGE dig.