Elon Musk’s courtroom fight with OpenAI is now underway in federal court in Oakland, California. In the case, Musk is asking the court to undo OpenAI’s move toward a for-profit structure, remove Sam Altman and Greg Brockman from their positions, and award damages of up to $134 billion.
The dispute centers on whether OpenAI abandoned the nonprofit purpose tied to its founding. Musk argues that the company violated a charitable trust by moving away from its original mission to benefit humanity. He also claims unjust enrichment, alleging that Altman and others privately benefited from the restructuring. Fraud-related claims, according to the source material, were dismissed before trial and are not part of the current proceedings.
Trial schedule and judicial control
Jury selection began on April 28, opening statements were expected on April 29, and the trial is expected to last four weeks. The case is being overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Based on the reported structure of the proceedings, the jury’s view is limited to the first-stage liability question, while final authority over liability and remedies remains with the judge.
Musk was part of OpenAI at the start. He co-founded the organization in 2015 as an early major donor and adviser, then left in 2018 after disagreements with Altman over the company’s direction. That split now sits at the center of the legal battle.
OpenAI argues Musk knew about the shift
OpenAI’s defense is built around a simple point: Musk was not an outside bystander. The company says he knew about discussions to make OpenAI more commercial during his time there and took part in those conversations, which cuts against his attempt to frame the lawsuit as a defense of the organization’s original mission.
OpenAI also ties the case to industry rivalry. Its position is that xAI, Musk’s AI company, started chasing the market after ChatGPT broke out in late 2022, and that the lawsuit functions as a tactic to slow OpenAI’s restructuring rather than a neutral challenge over principle.
Witness list reaches the top of the AI sector
Expected witnesses include Musk, Altman, Brockman, former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, former CTO Mira Murati, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The lineup shows how closely the trial touches the senior decision-makers who have shaped the modern AI industry.
The ruling could alter OpenAI’s corporate path. A win for Musk would put legal pressure on the company’s for-profit transition and could force leadership changes. A win for OpenAI would leave its commercial restructuring standing in court, while raising new questions about how much force a nonprofit framework still carries once a major AI organization scales through business financing.