Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman, OpenAI heads to trial

A courtroom showdown between Elon Musk and Sam Altman is set to begin next week as Musk’s blockbuster lawsuit against OpenAI heads to trial in California, placing one of the tech industry’s most consequential rivalries under intense public scrutiny.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Oakland, with opening arguments expected Tuesday, after US Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the case will proceed on Musk’s core claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. 

However, Musk’s fraud allegations were dismissed this week at his own request in an effort to narrow the trial’s focus.

The lawsuit centres on Musk’s accusation that OpenAI abandoned the nonprofit, humanity-first mission on which he says he agreed to help found and finance the company in 2015. 

Musk, who contributed roughly $38 million before leaving the board in 2018, argues that Altman and fellow co-founder Greg Brockman later transformed the startup into a profit-driven powerhouse tightly aligned with Microsoft — a move he says violated OpenAI’s original purpose.

Now one of the most valuable companies in artificial intelligence (AI), OpenAI has emerged as a direct competitor to Musk’s own AI venture, xAI, whose chatbot Grok is battling ChatGPT for market share and influence. 

That commercial rivalry has added another layer of tension to what is already a deeply personal feud between Musk and Altman.

Musk is seeking sweeping remedies from the court, including forcing OpenAI back into a pure nonprofit structure, removing Altman and Brockman from leadership, severing ties with Microsoft, and awarding as much as $134 billion to OpenAI’s charitable arm. 

The judge has already expressed skepticism over the eye-popping damages figure, suggesting Musk’s legal team may have struggled to justify the number.