California Court Allows Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI to Proceed

Elon Musk testified in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, this week as part of his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. The case, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that OpenAI's transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity violated its founding agreements to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

The trial's second week began on Monday, May 4, 2026. According to a post by Sawyer Merritt on X, formerly Twitter, live audio of the proceedings, titled "Elon Musk v. OpenAI," would be available starting that day.

During the third day of the trial, Musk underwent cross-examination by OpenAI's lawyers. In his testimony, Musk stated that an OpenAI lawyer was trying to "trick" him, as reported by BBC News.

A court filing cited by Forbes and TechCrunch indicates that Musk suggested settling the dispute with OpenAI shortly before the trial began. The filing, according to TechCrunch, claims that Musk subsequently sent texts to OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and CEO Sam Altman, including one stating that Brockman and Altman "will be the most hated men in America," as quoted in a Benzinga report and a Financial Times article.

OpenAI, founded in 2015 with Musk as a co-founder, has stated in response that Musk left the organization and is now seeking to hinder a competitor. The company is preparing for a potential initial public offering that could value it at up to $1 trillion, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and other outlets.

The lawsuit examines OpenAI's structural changes since its inception as a nonprofit, with Musk arguing that the shift prioritizes profit over public benefit. No publicly released evidence from the court filings has documented specific agreements from 2015 beyond the allegations in the complaint.