OpenAI faces trust and legal tests

Elon Musk’s courtroom fight with OpenAI entered a new phase in May as lawyers centered closing arguments on Sam Altman’s credibility, while a separate xAI lawsuit pulled Apple software chief Craig Federighi into discovery and OpenAI rolled out a finance product that can connect ChatGPT to users’ bank and investment accounts. The overlap is practical as much as legal: the company behind ChatGPT is defending its governance in court, facing a competition dispute over distribution, and asking users to hand over more sensitive data. In Oakland, California, jurors are due to begin deliberations on Monday in Musk’s suit over OpenAI’s nonprofit roots. In the consumer product, OpenAI said on May 15 that U.S. ChatGPT Pro users can link accounts through Plaid and ask questions about spending, subscriptions and future planning. ### Why did Sam Altman’s trustworthiness become part of the Musk trial? TechCrunch reported on May 17 that a central theme in the trial’s final days was whether Altman could be trusted, citing questioning over whether statements he made in congressional testimony were truthful. CNBC’s May 12 live coverage said Altman testified he never made commitments to Musk about keeping OpenAI’s corporate structure as a nonprofit. (news.bloomberglaw.com) Elon Musk’s case alleges that OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman and Microsoft abandoned the organization’s founding charitable mission after Musk helped start the lab in 2015 and donated about $38 million, according to CNBC. Bloomberg Law reported on May 14 that Musk is seeking as much as $134 billion in damages for OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, the removal of Altman and Brockman, and an order unwinding OpenAI’s 2025 conversion to a for-profit entity. (techcrunch.com) OpenAI and the other defendants have denied the allegations. ### What exactly happens next in the Oakland case? Bloomberg Law reported that lawyers finished final arguments in federal court in Oakland on May 14 after about two weeks of testimony. Jurors are set to begin deliberations on Monday, but their verdict is advisory rather than binding. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether Musk proved his claims and what remedies, if any, should follow. (cnbc.com) CNBC reported that the panel has nine members. Pure AI, citing the court proceedings, reported that Gonzalez Rogers gave final instructions on May 14 and that the court did not sit on Friday. ### Why is Apple’s Craig Federighi now part of a separate xAI fight? 9to5Mac reported on May 15 that a court granted xAI’s request to add Federighi as a document custodian in xAI’s antitrust suit against Apple and OpenAI, while rejecting a similar request for Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. (news.bloomberglaw.com) Storyboard18 reported on May 18 that the order lets xAI seek records from Apple’s software chief as the case examines Apple’s OpenAI partnership and alleged effects on competition. (cnbc.com) AppleInsider reported that the dispute stems from xAI’s claims that Apple favored ChatGPT in App Store treatment and through Siri integration, to Grok’s detriment. Those claims are part of a separate case from Musk’s nonprofit suit against OpenAI, but both matters put OpenAI’s partnerships and internal decision-making under court scrutiny. (9to5mac.com) ### What did OpenAI launch in personal finance? OpenAI on May 15 launched a preview finance tool for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the United States that lets users connect bank, credit-card and investment accounts through Plaid, TechCrunch reported. The company said the integration can connect to more than 12,000 financial institutions, including Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, Robinhood, American Express and Capital One. (appleinsider.com) TechCrunch reported that linked users can see portfolio performance, spending, subscriptions and upcoming payments, and ask questions such as whether their spending has changed or how to prepare to buy a house. OpenAI said users can remove account connections in settings and that synced data is removed from ChatGPT within 30 days after disconnection. (techcrunch.com) ### Why do these three developments land together? May 2026 put OpenAI in front of three different audiences at once: a federal judge and jury in Oakland, a court overseeing xAI’s competition claims involving Apple, and U.S. consumers being asked to connect financial accounts to ChatGPT. The facts are separate, but each one turns on records, representations and how much users, partners and courts accept OpenAI’s account of what its systems and executives are doing. (techcrunch.com) That framing — that trust is now part of the story — was stated most directly in TechCrunch’s May 17 trial analysis. Monday’s next step is concrete. Jurors in Oakland are scheduled to begin deliberations, and Judge Gonzalez Rogers will later issue the binding decision in Musk’s case, while the Apple discovery dispute proceeds with Federighi included and Cook excluded under the current order. (cnbc.com) (techcrunch.com)