Jury selection began Monday for the Musk v. Altman lawsuit at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California. The $134 billion lawsuit alleges that OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman manipulated Elon Musk into cofounding “their spurious non-profit venture.”
On Monday, Musk issued new comments on the case, saying, “Scam Altman and Greg Stockman stole a charity. Full stop,” in a post on X. “The fundamental question is simply this: Do you want to set legal precedent in the United States that it is ok to loot a charity? If so, you undermine all charitable giving in the United States forever.”
The trial comes just after SpaceX unveiled plans to acquire AI coding giant Cursor for $60 billion ahead of plans to launch an IPO. It also comes as OpenAI is on the path toward its own IPO.
With two of the biggest names in tech going head to head, Musk v. Altman has the ingredients to be the trial of the decade, but the potential impact on the AI race is uncertain.
What We Know About Musk v. Altman So Far
The central claim in Musk’s lawsuit is that Altman and Brockman abandoned OpenAI’s charitable mission and deceived him into investing in the company under the false pretense that the AI startup would remain a non-profit. Musk intends to return all money received to the OpenAI charity, while stripping Altman and Brockman of their positions.
I reached out to OpenAI via email for comment on the lawsuit and a spokesperson responded with links to a post on X and a page dedicated to rebuking Musk’s claims. The website’s Elon Musk page claims the lawsuit is motivated by jealousy, arguing that Musk demanded full control of OpenAI and attempted to merge the company with Tesla. The page also reaffirms OpenAI’s position as a non-profit that has committed $25 billion to accelerating health breakthroughs with AI.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, originally appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California back in 2011, will be presiding over the case. The trial itself is shaping up to be a spectacle, with big names including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI cofounders Mira Murati and Ilya Sutskever expected to make appearances. That being said, the trial’s impact on the broader AI race is doubtful.
“It just seems to me, you know, Elon’s pissed and he’s not gonna let it go by, but in terms of is it gonna make any major difference or have a major impact on AI in general? No,” Tre Lovell, one of the top litigation attorneys in the United States, who has worked as a representative on multiple cases involving Wells Fargo Advisors, Justin Bieber and Oprah Winfrey, told me in a video interview.
Lovell argues this is primarily an “ego spat,” that isn’t going to have any major effect on OpenAI or ChatGPT, even if Musk does prove he was defrauded. He notes that if Musk can prove he was misled, the court could disgorge the money that OpenAI made, but also says the idea of Altman or Brockman being forced out of the company would be unrealistic.
“I just don’t think that you know the court would take the extra step to start, you know, replacing presidents and affecting the trajectory of an upcoming billion-dollar IPO,” Lovell said.
A Chance To Change AI
Although there are doubts over the outcome of the trial, Randolph Wiggins, an AI and tech policy expert who is global director and chief investment officer at the New York Global Technology and Innovation Center and has previously worked with both the Obama and Biden administrations, suggests this trial could help direct the AI race away from its for-profit focus.
“Often when you have trials like this, people who may say, this is the case of the century, I think this is the first time where that’s actually true,” Wiggins said. “If Elon Musk is to win and the courts say that OpenAI has to probably adjust its structure, or take away, or dismantle its structure from being a for-profit structure, that would truly change kind of the face of the company as a whole, and to some degree, change the future of the sector.”
“If we go in another direction, that means there’s another way to go. And I firmly believe that may be the way that we should be going, in a way that tries to create more jobs, that tries to help more people and impact society, instead of this, what I would call, I guess, capitalism run amok, where it seems winner take all and only a few companies really ruling the future,” Wiggins said.
From this perspective, the trial represents an opportunity to steer OpenAI away from its growing focus on profit and towards responsible AI development.
What Is The Risk To OpenAI?
Daniel Burrus, an American technology futurist and strategic advisor who’s worked as an advisor for clients including Microsoft, FedEx and the U.S. Department of Defense, suggests that this case is significant but won’t necessarily shape the future of AI as a whole.
“Instead of looking at the past and then looking at the lawsuit, which is looking at the past and what Musk wanted to do, it’s more about who gets to shape the future of AI. And by the way, if Musk wins, does he get to shape the future of AI? No. We have Anthropic. We’ve got DeepSeek. We’ve got a lot going on internationally with AI and within the United States. It’s not the only game in town,” Burrus said.
“The question isn’t how do we win the AI race, whether it’s Musk or Altman, it should be how do we build AI organizations that are profitable, scalable, trusted, auditable and aligned with human benefit?” Burrus said.
He also raised some doubts over the potential negative impact on OpenAI. “For-profit doesn’t mean no income, no monetization. So if it was forced to stay non-profit, it doesn’t put it out of business. It doesn’t mean it won’t continue to grow,” Burrus said. “It isn’t just going to go away.”
He also notes that if Musk wins, that doesn’t mean he gets to shape the future of AI, as there are many other prominent providers in the race, including Anthropic and DeepSeek.
The Impact of the Trial
Regardless of the outcome, the lawsuit raises questions about OpenAI and its integrity under Altman. While a negative outcome is unlikely to bring about the end of OpenAI, the optics of such a high-profile lawsuit just after The New Yorker published a detailed investigation alleging Altman mislead the board doesn’t look good for the company.
A decision in Musk’s favor could shake the public’s faith in OpenAI and Altman, but its unlikely to derail the company’s trajectory. With a valuation of $852 billion, OpenAI has the financial backing to endure significant disruption. If Altman wins, then its business as usual for OpenAI and Musk is left to lick his wounds.
This trial is first and foremost a showdown between of the biggest names in tech. It might make for an entertaining spectacle, but it seems unlikely to alter the trajectory of the market.
