Rachel Courtland

Commissioning editor @techreview. Find me on Bluesky ( and LinkedIn (

[Rachel Courtland @rcourt]

Freelance journalists: I'm building up @techreview's coverage of physical technology: chips, materials science, quantum computing, engineering, robotics, a little bit of space, etc. Reach out to say hello! Or send me a pitch https://t.co/6GznNHKY0p

[Grace Huckins @grace_huckins]

I'm @ Google I/O in sunny Mountain View today, and I'll be sharing my thoughts here throughout the day. We're just over halfway through the keynote now, and one thing is already pretty obvious—Google isn't coming for Anthropic and OpenAI's shared agentic coding crown anytime soon

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Elon Musk lost the trial against OpenAI. I'm a reporter (and lawyer) covering the trial for @techreview. Join me and our editor-in-chief Mat Honan tomorrow at 11:30AM PT/2:30PM ET for a roundtable going behind the scenes of the trial and what the outcome means for the AI race.

https://t.co/Mfc0hENV8C

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Elon Musk lost his suit against OpenAI because the jury (and the judge) found that he sued too late. If you're curious why, check out my story @techreview.

https://t.co/S38iyzap2c

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Closing arguments from Elon Musk and OpenAI in federal court in Oakland, California.

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) at @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Final day of testimony in Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Kevin Scott, Microsoft CTO, is testifying today.

This morning, OpenAI's lawyers tried to submit into evidence a trophy of a donkey's ass that @jachiam0, chief futurist at OpenAI, got from his colleagues after Musk called him a jackass in an all hands meeting. The trophy reads: “never stop being a jackass for safety.”

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) at @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

@techreview Sam Altman is cross-examined by Elon Musk's lawyer, Steven Molo.

Molo: “Are you completely trustworthy?”
Altman: “I believe so.”
Molo: “Do you not know if you’re completely trustworthy?”
Altman: “I’ll amend my answer to yes.”

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 10 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Sam Altman will testify today.

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) at @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

In front of the Oakland federal courthouse, a protestor wears an Elon bobblehead, holding a bag of ketamine and a cybertruck prop, with an inflatable tube man imitating Musk in a MAGA cap. Another protestor holds a photo of Sam Altman saying “serial liar.”

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 9 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Ilya Sutskever, former OpenAI chief scientist, and Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, will testify.

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) at @techreview

[mat honan ☀️ @mat]

Look, look, look, I'm sorry. Look. I don't do the best job of promoting my own work. So, here I am. Posting.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 7 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Elon Musk's children, will testify.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

That's it for today! Tomorrow, Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Elon Musk's children, will testify.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 6 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. OpenAI president Greg Brockman continues to testify. Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Elon Musk's children, will also testify.

I'm a journalist (and lawyer) reporting on the trial for @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

@techreview Stuart Russell testifies during cross-examination that he's getting paid $235,000 by Elon Musk to testify about AI safety in this trial. He says that will make up 20% of his annual income.

[Rachel Courtland @rcourt]

Day 5 of the Musk v. Altman trial. See @michelletomkim's thread here for live updates.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 5 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Stuart Russell, a computer scientist at UC Berkeley, will testify about AI safety. OpenAI president Greg Brockman will also testify.

I'm a journalist (and lawyer) reporting on the trial for @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 5 of Musk v. Altman trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Stuart Russell, a computer scientist at UC Berkeley, will testify about AI safety. OpenAI president Greg Brockman will also testify.

I'm a journalist (and lawyer) reporting on the trial for @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

OpenAI's lawyer asks Musk if xAI distilled other companies’ models. “Partly," he says.

OpenAI's lawyer asks Musk if XAI has hired any third parties to distill OpenAI's models. He says he doesn't know. OpenAI is suggesting that Musk is suing the company just to bring down his competitor.

[Rachel Courtland @rcourt]

Day 4! Starting off strong with a warning about the existential threat of AI.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 4 of Musk v. Altman trial in Oakland federal courthouse!

Elon Musk continues to get cross-examined by OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt, who once represented Tesla (and Twitter in its battle against Elon Musk). Elon will then be cross-examined by Microsoft’s lawyer and then direct-examined by his own lawyer Steven Molo.

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) covering the trial for @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

Day 4 of Musk v. Altman trial in Oakland federal courthouse!

Elon Musk continues to get cross-examined by OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt, who once represented Tesla (and Twitter in its battle against Elon Musk). Elon will then be cross-examined by Microsoft’s lawyer and then direct-examined by his own lawyer Steven Molo.

I'm a reporter (and lawyer) covering the trial for @techreview.

[Michelle Kim @michelletomkim]

“Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit” Elon emailed to Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2017. He says they reassured him that they were committed to keeping the company a nonprofit, while planning to pivot to a for-profit.

“I was a fool who provided free funding” for Altman and Brockman to start a startup, Elon says.