OpenAI vs. Musk flare-up

OpenAI says Elon Musk changed what he wants from his lawsuit just weeks before trial, calling the move a legal “ambush.” (bloomberg.com) In a filing this week, Musk asked a federal court in Oakland to remove Chief Executive Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman from their company roles if he wins. Jury selection is scheduled to begin April 27. (cnbc.com) Bloomberg reported that Musk had told the court in January he was seeking roughly $79 billion to $134 billion in “wrongful gains,” then said this week that any money awarded should go back to OpenAI instead of to him. He also asked the court to unwind OpenAI’s conversion and oversee future financings and transactions. (bloomberg.com) The case centers on a fight over what OpenAI is supposed to be. Musk says the company abandoned the nonprofit mission he backed when he helped found OpenAI in 2015 and took his donations under that understanding. (cnbc.com) OpenAI says Musk supported a for-profit structure years ago, pushed for one in 2017, and left after failing to get control. In January, the company said it now operates through a public benefit corporation controlled by a nonprofit owner with an equity stake valued at about $130 billion. (openai.com) That structure matters in court because Musk is trying to reverse it after it has already been put in place. CNBC reported that OpenAI completed the restructuring in October and said the nonprofit now holds a 26 percent stake in the for-profit arm that includes ChatGPT. (cnbc.com) A judge already refused to halt that shift before trial. In March 2025, United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Musk’s request for a preliminary injunction but agreed to fast-track the case. (politico.com) The legal fight is also tangled up with a business rivalry. OpenAI says Musk’s filings are part of a campaign to slow a competitor, while Musk has built his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, after leaving OpenAI in 2018. (openai.com) OpenAI’s lawyers told the court that Musk’s latest demands would require different evidence and different witnesses than the case they had been preparing to try. Musk’s side argues that removing leaders and restoring nonprofit control are proper remedies if a jury finds fraud. (bloomberg.com) (cnbc.com) Unless the judge narrows the case again before April 27, the trial is set to decide not only whether Musk was misled, but whether OpenAI’s current structure can survive his challenge. (cnbc.com) (bloomberg.com)