Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI Narrowed to Two Claims, Set for Trial in Oakland

Elon Musk's legal battle against OpenAI and its leaders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman advanced to trial on Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, after Musk narrowed the scope of his lawsuit on the eve of the proceedings. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed to Musk’s request to streamline the case on Friday, allowing just two claims to proceed out of the 26 included in his November 2024 complaint.

Jury selection is set for Monday in the US District Court, Northern District of California, under case title Musk v.

Altman, 4:24-cv-04722. Musk claims OpenAI breached its nonprofit mission through Microsoft funding and for-profit shift, while OpenAI denies any wrongdoing and calls the suit harassment.

He is seeking as much as $134 billion in damages to be directed to OpenAI’s charitable arm if he wins at trial, along with a court order restoring OpenAI’s status as a nonprofit research organization and removing Altman and Brockman from their roles.

Sam Altman serves as chief executive officer of OpenAI, while Greg Brockman is president. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman and others in 2015 but left the board in 2018.

In 2023, Musk co-founded xAI, which has become one of OpenAI’s main rivals. 4 billion last February. Months later, OpenAI completed its for-profit restructuring plan.

The trial will be divided into two phases. In the first phase, a jury will hear arguments and testimony about Musk’s allegations focusing on unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust, issuing an advisory verdict that will not be binding on Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will decide if Musk proved his claims.

In the second phase, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will hear arguments on the remedies Musk is seeking and issue a ruling.

OpenAI argued to the judge that Musk's remedies were an unexpected late addition, describing it as a surprise ahead of trial. OpenAI, Altman, Brockman and Microsoft have denied wrongdoing and stated Musk’s claims are baseless harassment.

Hundreds of court filings have revealed texts, emails or private diary entries of Musk, Altman, other OpenAI founders and other public figures. Musk wants more than $130 billion in damages in the lawsuit against OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, which he co-founded with Altman.

The yearslong legal battle between two of the OpenAI founders will go to trial today, according to CNBC. In other business news, Verizon reported a quarterly earnings-per-share beat but missed on revenue in its quarterly report. Verizon's stock was up 2% following the report, driven by net additions of monthly plans and positive numbers for prepaid plans.

Verizon's monthly plans, or postpaid in industry terms, turned in their first positive first quarter since 2013. Verizon raised its full-year postpaid guidance. Bernstein downgraded Campbell's to a hold from buy.

China blocked Meta's acquisition of AI startup Manus, with the National Development and Reform Commission calling for the cancellation of the deal early this morning. Meta's bid for Manus was announced last December in a transaction valued around $2 billion. A Meta spokesperson told CNBC that the acquisition complied fully with applicable law.

Meta will report earnings on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded CrowdStrike to buy from hold and raised its price target to $520 from $490. CrowdStrike has experienced volatility in 2026. Piper Sandler bumped its Blackstone price target up to $130 from $122.

Blackstone posted its second-best quarterly results since 2022 last week.