Inside a San Francisco courtroom, Elon Musk transformed a familiar anecdote into a legal weapon on Tuesday. The tech mogul, known for sprawling media interviews, found himself under oath, retelling the origin of his shattered alliance with OpenAI—a tale previously reserved for bestsellers and podcasts. This time, however, the narrative carried the weight of perjury laws.

The shift from casual storytelling to sworn testimony marked a dramatic escalation in Musk’s battle against the AI giant he helped found. As lawyers dissected his past statements, the proceedings felt less like a business dispute and more like a public autopsy of a high-profile friendship. The courtroom setting stripped away the ambiguity of previous tellings, demanding a precision that history books rarely require.