马斯克与奥特曼为何反目“互撕”

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🤔️小作业：

1. The phrase "cloaked itself in virtue" most likely means that Silicon Valley has:

A. openly admitted its moral shortcomings.

B. hidden its true motives behind a facade of righteousness.

C. consistently acted in accordance with ethical principles.

D. been praised for its charitable contributions.

无注释原文：

Et Tu, Brute? What Elon Musk's Clash With Sam Altman Is Really About.

From: The New York Times

One of the most controversial and overexposed men in the world is suing another man, who is equally unsympathetic and equally inescapable. Both are insanely rich.

It is so tempting to look away.

Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman involves onetime colleagues and buddies who became peevish enemies. Now they would like to take each other down. Happens all the time. These guys just have more lawyers.

Ignoring this conflict would be a mistake, however. The rancorous dispute between Mr. Musk and Mr. Altman, which went to trial this week with opening statements in an Oakland, Calif., federal courtroom on Tuesday, goes to the heart of Silicon Valley, a place that has always cloaked itself in virtue.

Mr. Altman and Mr. Musk started working on what was supposed to be a different sort of tech lab in 2015. OpenAI was a Manhattan Project for artificial intelligence, a nonprofit venture that would act as a shield against rapacious behavior by less benevolent outfits. The goal was to “shift the dialog toward being about humanity winning rather than any particular group or company,” according to a document in the case.

Mr. Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, provided the initial funding. Mr. Altman was OpenAI's leader and spokesman. But Mr. Musk says their interests quickly diverged when it became clear just how much money was up for grabs. OpenAI converted to a for-profit company last year. “A textbook tale of altruism versus greed,” Mr. Musk asserted in his suit's opening salvo.

The fact that the person calling himself an altruist here is likely to become the world's first trillionaire doesn't necessarily make it untrue. In his lawsuit, filed in 2024, Mr. Musk said Mr. Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and others “unjustly enriched” themselves in the development of OpenAI “to the tune of billions of dollars.”

OpenAI, whose value is approaching $1 trillion, had the inevitable response: No, you're the one who is greedy. The company argued that Mr. Musk walked away when he could not take over the entire enterprise.

“This case has always been about Elon generating more power and more money for what he wants,” OpenAI said in a statement.

One of the few things the moguls agree on is that their feud evokes the works of a certain Elizabethan playwright. Mr. Musk, 54, said in his suit that Mr. Altman's “perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions.” Mr. Altman, 41, mused in a blog post this month that “there has been so much Shakespearean drama between the companies in our field.”

If there is a Shakespeare play that could sum up this soured friendship, it's “Julius Caesar.” Brutus wants to stop Caesar from gaining too much power, or so he says. Caesar is quite surprised that he's being assassinated by a supposed friend. “Et tu, Brute?” he cries. Brutus ends the play as dead as Caesar but is mourned as “the noblest Roman of them all.”

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Et Tu, Brute? What Elon Musk's Clash With Sam Altman Is Really About.

From: The New York Times

One of the most controversial and overexposed men in the world is suing another man, who is equally unsympathetic and equally inescapable. Both are insanely rich.

当今世界上最具争议且过度曝光的两个人中的一个正在起诉另一个，而后者同样令人反感且同样无法逃避。两人都富可敌国。

unsympathetic /ˌʌn.sɪm.pəˈθet.ɪk/ 表示“无同情心的；冷漠的”，英文解释为“not sympathetic (= showing that you understand or care about someone's suffering)”

inescapable /ˌɪn.ɪˈskeɪ.pə.bəl/ 表示“不可忽视的；不可避免的”，英文解释为“If a fact or a situation is inescapable, it cannot be ignored or avoided.”

insanely /ɪnˈseɪn.li/ 表示“疯狂地”，英文解释为“extremely and unreasonably”举个🌰：She gets insanely jealous if he so much as looks at another woman. 哪怕他只是看一眼别的女人，她都会妒嫉得发疯。

It is so tempting to look away.

真是个让人不忍卒睹的局面。

tempting /ˈtemp.tɪŋ/ 表示“诱人的，吸引人的；使人禁不住想尝试（或拥有）的”，英文解释为“If something is tempting, you want to do or have it.”如：a tempting offer 诱人的提议。

Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman involves onetime colleagues and buddies who became peevish enemies. Now they would like to take each other down. Happens all the time. These guys just have more lawyers.

埃隆·马斯克对山姆·奥尔特曼的诉讼是一个昔日同事和好友反目成仇的故事。现在，他们都想置对方于死地。这种事常有发生，只是这些人雇得起更多的律师罢了。

peevish /ˈpiː.vɪʃ/ 表示“易怒的，脾气坏的”，英文解释为“easily annoyed”如：a peevish, bad-tempered person 一个易怒的、坏脾气的人。

Ignoring this conflict would be a mistake, however. The rancorous dispute between Mr. Musk and Mr. Altman, which went to trial this week with opening statements in an Oakland, Calif., federal courtroom on Tuesday, goes to the heart of Silicon Valley, a place that has always cloaked itself in virtue.

然而，忽视这场冲突将是一个错误。马斯克与奥尔特曼之间这场积怨已久的纠纷本周二在加利福尼亚州奥克兰市的一家联邦法院举行了开庭陈述。这场纠纷触及了硅谷——一个一向以道德标杆自居的地方——的核心。

rancorous /ˈræŋ.kər.əs/ 表示“怨恨的|记恨的”，英文解释为“having or showing a feeling of hate and continuing anger about something in the past”如：a rancorous dispute 充满积怨的争执。

cloak /kləʊk/ 表示“掩藏，掩饰”，英文解释为“to cover or hide something”举个🌰：He has always kept his love affairs cloaked in secrecy (= kept them secret). 他总是隐瞒他的风流韵事。

Mr. Altman and Mr. Musk started working on what was supposed to be a different sort of tech lab in 2015. OpenAI was a Manhattan Project for artificial intelligence, a nonprofit venture that would act as a shield against rapacious behavior by less benevolent outfits. The goal was to “shift the dialog toward being about humanity winning rather than any particular group or company,” according to a document in the case.

奥尔特曼和马斯克在2015年开始合作创办一个本应与众不同的科技实验室。OpenAI堪称人工智能领域的‘曼哈顿计划'，这个非营利项目旨在充当一道屏障，抵御那些缺乏善意的机构所采取的贪婪行径。该案的一份文件显示，其目标是“将对话的重心转向全人类的胜利，而非某个特定团体或公司的利益”。

venture /ˈven.tʃər/ 1）作名词，表示“（尤指有风险的）企业，商业，投机活动，经营项目”，英文解释为“a business project or activity, especially one that involves taking risks”举个🌰：A disastrous business venture lost him thousands of dollars. 一个彻底失败的经营项目使他损失严重。

2）作动词，表示“敢于去；冒险去（或做）；冒昧地说”，英文解释为“to risk going somewhere or doing something that might be dangerous or unpleasant, or to risk saying something that might be criticized”举个🌰：As we set off into the forest, we felt as though we were venturing (forth) into the unknown. 当我们动身进入那片森林时，感觉自己似乎正在冒险进入一个未知的世界。

📺美剧《复仇》（Revenge）中的台词提到：This is brave new territory we're venturing into here. 这是我们华丽冒险的新地域。

📺美剧《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）中的台词提到：You realize you're venturing into uncharted waters? 你意识到你在冒险进入未知水域吗？

rapacious /rəˈpeɪ.ʃəs/ 表示“巧取豪夺的，贪婪的，掠夺的”，英文解释为“having or showing a strong wish to take things for yourself, usually using unfair methods or force”如：a rapacious landlord/businessman 贪婪的地主/商人。

benevolent /bəˈnev.əl.ənt/ 表示“仁慈的，慈善的”，英文解释为“kind and helpful”举个🌰：He was a benevolent old man and wouldn't hurt a fly. 他是个仁慈的老人，连一只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

outfit /ˈaʊt.fɪt/ 1）表示“全套服装，装束（尤指为某场合或目的）”（a set of clothes that you wear together, especially for a particular occasion or purpose）如：a wedding outfit 一套结婚礼服。

2）表示“组织；公司；团队；军事单位”，英文解释为“an organization, company, team, military unit, etc.”举个🌰：He has recently set up his own research outfit. 他最近建立了自己的研究队伍。

对比：

📍costume /ˈkɒs.tʃuːm/ 表示“（某国或某一历史时期或适合某种活动的）服装”，英文解释为“the set of clothes typical of a particular country or period of history, or suitable for a particular activity”

Mr. Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, provided the initial funding. Mr. Altman was OpenAI's leader and spokesman. But Mr. Musk says their interests quickly diverged when it became clear just how much money was up for grabs. OpenAI converted to a for-profit company last year. “A textbook tale of altruism versus greed,” Mr. Musk asserted in his suit's opening salvo.

特斯拉首席执行官马斯克提供了初始资金。奥尔特曼则是OpenAI的负责人和发言人。但马斯克表示，一旦看到了这件事多么有利可图，他们的利益迅速产生了分歧。OpenAI去年转型为一家营利性公司。“这是一个利他主义对抗贪婪的经典教科书式故事，”马斯克在诉讼的开场白中声称。

diverge /ˌdaɪˈvɜːdʒ/ 表示“（道路）分叉；出现差异；发生分歧”，英文解释为“to follow a different direction, or to be or become different”举个🌰：They walked along the road together until they reached the village, but then their paths diverged. 他们一直沿着那条路走到那个村子，然后才分开。

altruism /ˈæltruːˌɪzəm/ 表示“利他主义；利他；无私”，英文解释为“the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people more than your own”。

versus /ˈvɜːsəs/ 经常看到缩写vs，vs.或者是单单一个v，就是指的versus，表示“（比较两种不同想法、选择等）与…相对，与…相比”，英文解释为“used to compare two different ideas, choices, etc.”如：private education versus state education 私立教育与公共教育相比，举个🌰：It is France versus Brazil in the final. 决赛是法国队对巴西队。

1）表示“（坚决）主张；断言”，英文解释为“to state firmly that something is true”举个🌰：French cooking, she asserted, is the best in the world. 她坚称法国菜是世界上最好的。

2）表示“维护自己的权利（或权威）”，英文解释为“to make other people recognize your right or authority to do sth, by behaving firmly and confidently”如：to assert your independence/rights 维护你的独立/权利。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述疫情带来的影响的文章中提到：That will make it harder for strong firms to assert their advantage. 这将使大公司更难发挥优势。

salvo /ˈsæl.vəʊ/ 1）表示“（枪炮的）齐射；（礼炮的）齐鸣”，英文解释为“the action of firing several guns at the same time, either in a war or in a ceremony”如：a salvo of guns/rockets 枪炮/火箭弹齐射。

2）表示“（突然发出的）一阵，一片（巨大的响声）”，英文解释为“a sudden loud sound made by many people at the same time”举个🌰：Every joke the comedian made was greeted by a salvo of laughter from the audience. 喜剧演员的每一个笑话都能赢得观众的哄然大笑。

3）示“演讲的开篇；行动的第一炮”，英文解释为“the first part of a speech or the first in a series of actions intended to get a particular result”举个🌰：In his opening salvo the speaker fiercely attacked the government's record on healthcare. 演讲者在开场白中猛烈抨击政府在卫生保健领域的所作所为。

The fact that the person calling himself an altruist here is likely to become the world's first trillionaire doesn't necessarily make it untrue. In his lawsuit, filed in 2024, Mr. Musk said Mr. Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and others “unjustly enriched” themselves in the development of OpenAI “to the tune of billions of dollars.”

事实是，这个自称利他主义者的人极有可能成为世界上第一位万亿富翁，但这并不一定意味着他的说法不实。在2024年提交的诉讼中，马斯克称奥尔特曼、OpenAI总裁格雷格·布罗克曼等人通过开发OpenAI“不当获利”，数额高达数十亿美元。

altruist /ˈæl.tru.ɪst/ 表示“利他主义者；利他者，无私的人”，英文解释为“a person who cares about others and helps them despite not gaining anything by doing this”举个🌰：Altruists have a strong desire to help other people. 利他主义者有帮助他人的强烈意愿。

OpenAI, whose value is approaching $1 trillion, had the inevitable response: No, you're the one who is greedy. The company argued that Mr. Musk walked away when he could not take over the entire enterprise.

目前估值接近1万亿美元的OpenAI给出了必然的回应：不，贪婪的人是你。该公司辩称，是马斯克在无法掌控整个企业后选择了退出。

“This case has always been about Elon generating more power and more money for what he wants,” OpenAI said in a statement.

OpenAI在一份声明中表示：“此案的核心始终是埃隆为了他想要的东西，在攫取更多的权力和金钱。”

One of the few things the moguls agree on is that their feud evokes the works of a certain Elizabethan playwright. Mr. Musk, 54, said in his suit that Mr. Altman's “perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions.” Mr. Altman, 41, mused in a blog post this month that “there has been so much Shakespearean drama between the companies in our field.”

这两位商界巨子为数不多达成共识的事情之一，就是他们的矛盾让人想起了某位伊丽莎白时代的剧作家作品。54岁的马斯克在诉讼中称，奥尔特曼的“背信弃义和欺诈行为足以写进莎士比亚的剧本”。41岁的奥尔特曼本月在一篇博文中感叹道：“我们行业公司之间上演了太多莎士比亚式的戏剧。”

mogul /ˈməʊ.ɡəl/ 表示“大人物；权贵；巨头”，英文解释为“an important person who is very rich or powerful”如：movie/media/industry moguls 电影/传媒/工业巨头。

feud /fjuːd/ 表示“夙怨；世仇；长期争斗”，英文解释为“an argument that has existed for a long time between two people or groups, causing a lot of anger or violence”如：a family feud 家族世仇。

📺英剧《神探夏洛克》（Sherlock）中的台词提到：This petty feud between us is simply childish. 相比之下我们的小恩小怨不过儿戏。

evoke /ɪˈvəʊk/ 表示“唤起（记忆）；引起（想法、情感、反应）”，英文解释为“To evoke a particular memory, idea, emotion, or response means to cause it to occur.”举个🌰：The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。

perfidy /ˈpɜː.fɪ.di/ 表示“背信弃义（行为）；不忠贞（行为）”，英文解释为“behaviour that is not loyal”

deceit /dɪˈsiːt/ 表示“欺骗；欺诈”，英文解释为“(an act of) keeping the truth hidden, especially to get an advantage”举个🌰：The story is about theft, fraud, and deceit on an incredible scale. 小说描述了令人难以置信的盗窃、行骗和欺诈行为。

If there is a Shakespeare play that could sum up this soured friendship, it's “Julius Caesar.” Brutus wants to stop Caesar from gaining too much power, or so he says. Caesar is quite surprised that he's being assassinated by a supposed friend. “Et tu, Brute?” he cries. Brutus ends the play as dead as Caesar but is mourned as “the noblest Roman of them all.”

如果有一部莎士比亚戏剧能总结这段变质的友谊，那一定是《裘力斯·凯撒》。布鲁图斯想要阻止凯撒获得过大权力，或者至少他是这么说的。凯撒对自己被所谓的朋友刺杀感到非常惊讶。“还有你吗，布鲁图斯？”他大喊道。布鲁图斯在剧终时也和凯撒一样死了，但却被哀悼为“他们之中最高尚的罗马人”。

作形容词，表示“变酸的”、“变坏的”、“恶化的”、“破裂的”如：a soured relationship 破裂/恶化的关系，a soured deal 告吹的交易，a soured mood 变坏的心情，soured expectations 落空的期望。

assassinate /əˈsæs.ɪ.neɪt/ 表示“暗杀，行刺”，英文解释为“to kill someone famous or important”

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