OpenAI trust battle widens

Elon Musk’s legal fight with OpenAI now spans two separate disputes that both turn on who controls access, records and trust in the AI market. In Oakland, California, lawyers for Musk and OpenAI used closing arguments last week to press sharply different accounts of whether OpenAI’s leaders honored the company’s original nonprofit mission. In a separate case, a U.S. court allowed Musk’s xAI to seek documents from Apple software chief Craig Federighi while declining to add Chief Executive Tim Cook as a discovery custodian. Together, the cases show how the contest around AI is being argued in court through governance records, executive credibility and distribution deals, not only product claims. ### Why did Sam Altman’s credibility become a focal point in the OpenAI trial? TechCrunch reported on May 17 that a central theme in the final days of the Musk-OpenAI trial was whether OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman is trustworthy. The report said Musk lawyer Steve Molo pressed Altman on whether statements he made in congressional testimony were truthful, while the broader case asked jurors to weigh competing accounts of OpenAI’s evolution from nonprofit lab to more commercial structure. (techcrunch.com) The Associated Press reported on May 15 that lawyers for Musk and OpenAI made final arguments in a trial over whether the company abandoned its founding purpose. Musk’s side argued his early support was tied to a charitable mission for open and safe AI, while OpenAI’s lawyers said no binding contract required the company to remain structured the way Musk now describes. (techcrunch.com) ### What exactly is the jury being asked to decide in Oakland? CNBC reported on May 14 that the first phase of the trial had concluded and that a nine-person jury would begin deliberating on Monday. The report said the jury’s verdict would be advisory, with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers making the final decision on liability. Reuters imagery and follow-on coverage carried by other outlets showed Altman at the federal courthouse in Oakland on May 14 as closing arguments ended. (apnews.com) Reports on the case said the trial opened after jury selection on April 27 and ran for roughly three weeks. ### What did xAI win against Apple, and what did it not get? A U.S. court allowed xAI to add Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, as a document custodian in xAI’s antitrust case against Apple and OpenAI, according to 9to5Mac and other reports published May 15-18. (cnbc.com) The same order declined to add Tim Cook, narrowing Musk’s discovery request. (europesays.com) The Apple-OpenAI dispute centers on allegations by xAI that Apple and OpenAI favored ChatGPT through Siri integration and related platform decisions. OpenAI’s February 2 filing in the Northern District of Texas identifies the case as brought by X Corp. and xAI against Apple and OpenAI defendants over the June 10, 2024 Apple-OpenAI arrangement that Musk criticized publicly the same day. (9to5mac.com) ### Why does Federighi matter more than Cook in this discovery fight? Craig Federighi oversees Apple’s software organization, making him a more direct source for records tied to Siri integration and operating-system level decisions described in the lawsuit. Reports on the order said xAI argued both Federighi and Cook were involved in strategic decisions around the Apple-OpenAI agreement, but the court limited discovery to Federighi rather than the chief executive. (cdn.openai.com) The narrower ruling leaves xAI with access to a senior Apple executive’s documents without granting the broader executive-level sweep Musk sought. That distinction matters because discovery disputes often shape which internal communications become available before any merits ruling. ### How are the two cases connected? (9to5mac.com) Elon Musk is the common participant in both matters, but the overlap is larger than personality. In Oakland, Musk is challenging whether OpenAI’s leaders kept faith with the company’s original mission; in Texas-related litigation over Apple and OpenAI, xAI is challenging whether platform and partnership decisions gave ChatGPT an unfair distribution advantage. (9to5mac.com) OpenAI’s own filing in the Apple case says the Apple-OpenAI transaction was announced on June 10, 2024 and notes Musk’s immediate public objections. That timeline links the governance fight over OpenAI’s direction with a second fight over how AI products reach users through major consumer platforms. ### What happens next in both disputes? Monday, May 18, is the next immediate date in the Oakland case, with the nine-person jury set to begin advisory deliberations before Judge Gonzalez Rogers decides liability, according to CNBC. (apnews.com) In the Apple-OpenAI antitrust case, discovery will proceed with Federighi included as a custodian and Cook excluded under the court’s latest order. (cnbc.com) (cdn.openai.com)