The high-stakes legal battle between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is now officially headed to trial this spring. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has set jury selection for April 27, with proceedings starting the following day. The trial is said to last up to four weeks, through May 22, as per the court filings. The case stems from the lawsuit filed by Elon Musk last year. In the case filed, Musk accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of fraud over the company’s partnership with Microsoft and its shift toward a for-profit model. Tesla CEO Elon Musk who co-founded and financially supported OpenAI with contributions totalling $38 million, claims he did so under the understanding that the organisation would remain a nonprofit dedicated to altruistic goals. OpenAI countered then claims and said that Musk was aware of the for-profit pivot as early as 2018 and it still maintains its non-profit arm.
California judge’s ruling
Last week, California judge rejected OpenAI’s motion to end Elon Musk’s case against the ChatGPT maker, scheduling a trial for March. Musk, in a 2024 lawsuit, has alleged that OpenAI violated its founding mission in its high-profile restructuring to a for-profit entity. During a court hearing to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said that there was “plenty of evidence”, reports Reuters. “It’s circumstantial, but that’s how these things work,” Rogers said, adding “This case is going to trial”.Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 along with CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. He left in 2018 due to disagreements over control and direction of the company.
Elon Musk’s allegations against OpenAI
In a 2024 lawsuit, The billionaire entrepreneur alleges that OpenAI has strayed from its original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity and instead prioritised commercial interests.Elon Musk claims that OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft resulted in significant funding and resources for the company, which is a breach of the company’s founding contract.“After Musk lent his name to the venture, invested significant time, tens of millions of dollars in seed capital, and recruited top Al scientists for OpenAI, Inc., Musk and the non-profit’s namesake objective were betrayed by Altman and his accomplices. The perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions,” the lawsuit claims.“Once OpenAI, Inc.’s technology approached transformative AGI, Altman flipped the narrative and proceeded to cash in,” it added.
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