Jury Selection Begins in Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI in Oakland Federal Court

Jury selection began Monday in Oakland, California, for Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing them of abandoning the company's nonprofit mission. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Northern California, follows Musk's filing of the suit in August 2024.

OpenAI, founded in 2015 as a nonprofit startup, is now valued at $852 billion. Musk invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017. Microsoft became OpenAI's biggest investor after Musk cut off his funding, with investments estimated at more than $13 billion to date.

Musk initially sought more than $100 billion in damages but abandoned the bid for personal damages and now seeks an unspecified amount to fund OpenAI's charitable arm. The lawsuit seeks Sam Altman's ouster from OpenAI's board. OpenAI's board fired Altman as CEO in 2023 and reinstated him days later.

ChatGPT was launched in 2022.

Some potential jurors expressed negative views of Musk but stated they could treat him fairly. A jury in another case held Musk liable last month for defrauding investors during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. SpaceX plans an initial public offering this summer.

Elon Musk is 54 years old, and Sam Altman is 41 years old. She is allowing Musk to be questioned about his attendance at the 2017 Burning Man festival in Nevada.

She is also allowing Musk to be questioned about his relationship with Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and mother of several of his children. A 20-year-old man was arrested earlier this month on attempted murder charges after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's San Francisco home. Elon Musk's estimated fortune is about $780 billion.

Sam Altman's fortune is roughly $3 billion. OpenAI converted to a for-profit public benefit corporation, with the original charitable foundation retaining roughly a 26% minority stake.