OAKLAND, Calif. — The long-anticipated trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman began today in federal court, with jury selection underway in a civil case that could upend the future of OpenAI, the company both men helped create. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is presiding over what analysts are calling a collision of egos, ambition, and competing visions for artificial intelligence.
The stakes are enormous. OpenAI is now valued at approximately $852 billion. The company has nearly one billion weekly active users and recently closed a $122 billion funding round, with reports suggesting an IPO could come later this year. If Musk prevails, those plans could be derailed. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is seeking the removal of Altman and president Greg Brockman from their leadership positions, as well as an unspecified sum to be paid to OpenAI's nonprofit arm.
The Complaint: A Charity Turned 'Wealth Machine'
At the center of the lawsuit is a question about corporate transformation and donor intent. Musk, who invested over $44 million in OpenAI's early years, contends he was misled when Altman and Brockman converted the company from a nonprofit founded to benefit humanity into a for-profit juggernaut. His lawyers have called the alleged conduct "the perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions."
OpenAI counters that Musk was well aware of discussions to create a for-profit entity and walked away only when the company refused to give him control or merge with Tesla. The company has dismissed the lawsuit as a "baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor" driven by Musk's desire to bolster his own AI firm, xAI.
Musk's Public Campaign
The courtroom battle is only half the story. Musk has been waging a parallel campaign on X, the social network he owns, branding Altman as "Scam Altman" and framing the case as a referendum on the integrity of charitable giving itself.
In a series of posts today, Musk laid out his argument in blunt terms:
"Scam Altman and Greg Stockman stole a charity. Full stop. Greg got tens of billions of stock for himself and Scam got dozens of OpenAI side deals with a piece of the action for himself, Y Combinator style. After this lawsuit, Scam will also be awarded tens of billions in stock directly."
He continued: "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."
In another post, Musk alleged that "Scam Altman owned the OpenAI Startup fund while simultaneously lying to the world that he didn't financially benefit from OpenAI." A third post claimed that "Scam Altman didn't tell the OpenAI board that he OWNED the OpenAI Startup Fund. Altman lied in congressional testimony that he didn't have financial gain from OpenAI."
The allegation about the startup fund has some documentary support. According to reports, Altman held ownership of the OpenAI Startup Fund, an entity that benefited from early access to OpenAI products. The fund's structure typically would have entitled Altman to financial benefits. OpenAI has maintained that Altman had no stake in the fund and that the arrangement was made simply because it was the fastest way to set it up. But some former board members have said they could not get a straight answer about the arrangement, and the fund's structure remained murky.
Congressional Testimony and Questions of Candor
Musk's allegation about congressional testimony points to Altman's 2023 Senate appearance, during which Altman told lawmakers he owned no equity in OpenAI and ran the company simply because he loved the work. But reporting has since revealed that Altman held OpenAI equity indirectly through funds managed by Sequoia and Y Combinator. Altman has acknowledged holding an indirect stake through Sequoia at one point, though he says he has since sold it. The distinction between "no equity" and "no direct equity" may be one the jury will parse closely.
A Four-Week Spectacle
The trial is expected to run through mid-May, with opening arguments as early as Tuesday. The witness list reads like a who's who of AI leadership: Musk and Altman will both testify, along with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and current and former OpenAI board members. Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and mother of several of Musk's children, is also on the witness list.
Internal documents already unsealed include a diary entry from Brockman in 2017: "This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon." In another entry after a meeting where he and Altman assured Musk that OpenAI would stay a nonprofit, Brockman wrote that he "cannot say that we are committed to the non-profit."
The jury's verdict will be advisory; Judge Gonzalez Rogers will make the final determination on liability. She has already indicated that if the defendants are found liable, she will decide the remedy herself, without jury input. That remedy could include forcing OpenAI to unwind its for-profit restructuring.
The Risks for Musk
The trial also carries risk for Musk, who last month was found liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his 2022 Twitter acquisition. Any damaging revelations could affect SpaceX's planned summer IPO, which analysts say could make Musk the world's first trillionaire. Judge Gonzalez Rogers has already ruled that Musk can be questioned about his attendance at Burning Man in 2017 and his relationship with Zilis.
For Altman, the stakes are equally personal. As one analyst noted, this has become "a tech soap opera that all investors will be watching." The public feuding has been petty at times. Musk has repeatedly branded Altman as "Scam Altman" on X, while Altman has publicly demanded the return of his $45,000 deposit for a long-delayed Tesla Roadster.
As tech journalist Casey Newton put it: "This is a clash of two enormous personalities in Elon Musk and Sam Altman. And I think what is at stake is potentially the future of OpenAI and the future development of all AI."
The trial resumes tomorrow with additional jury screening.
