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Trial Begins in Lawsuit Over OpenAI's Shift to For-Profit
Elon Musk testified in a California federal court trial accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of breaching the company's founding non-profit mission by converting to a for-profit entity. The lawsuit also names OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and investor Microsoft, seeking to revert OpenAI to non-profit status and return alleged ill-gotten gains.
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Elon Musk testified for a second day in a federal trial in Oakland, California, regarding his lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. The suit alleges that OpenAI breached its founding agreements by shifting from a nonprofit mission to develop artificial general intelligence for humanity's benefit to a for-profit structure.
According to court filings cited in the case, OpenAI was established in 2015 as a nonprofit entity, with Musk as a co-founder and initial donor of approximately $40 million. Musk's complaint, filed in 2024, seeks to require OpenAI to return to nonprofit status, remove Altman from the board, and transfer about $150 billion in alleged wrongful profits to a charitable trust.
In testimony reported by multiple outlets, Musk stated that he co-founded OpenAI to "prevent a 'Terminator' outcome," referring to risks of unchecked AI development. He further testified, according to transcripts referenced in coverage, that OpenAI's leadership was attempting to "have your cake and eat it, too" by pursuing profits while claiming nonprofit ideals.
Musk left the organization in 2018 after emailing leadership that he would cease funding without structural commitments, as detailed in internal communications entered as evidence. OpenAI's defense, per court documents, asserts that Musk supported a for-profit transition in 2017 but demanded "absolute control," which the board rejected.
The company also claims in filings that Musk proposed merging OpenAI with Tesla in 2018 to compete with Google, an offer that was declined.
The trial, overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, began with jury selection on Monday. Procedural details include technical issues, such as microphone failures during opening arguments, which the judge attributed to federal funding constraints in a remark to the court.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers issued warnings to both Musk and Altman against social media posts that could influence the case, noting prior online exchanges. No specific evidence of jury tampering has been presented in court records as of the second day of testimony.
