Musk vs. OpenAI Trial Begins in Oakland

Is OpenAI betraying its public mission for profit or is Musk's lawsuit a competitive power grab disguised as altruism?

Published APR 28

Story

Above: Inflatable punching bags with pictures of Elon Musk and Sam Altman outside the federal courthouse in Oakland on April 27. Image credit: Karl Mondon/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

A nine-member advisory jury was seated Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, for the civil trial of Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman and Microsoft. Opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday.
Reuters
CNBC
Musk, an OpenAI co-founder who contributed roughly $38 million in seed funding, alleges Altman and Brockman abandoned the company's nonprofit mission to benefit humanity when OpenAI restructured as a for-profit entity in 2019. OpenAI has dismissed the lawsuit as "a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor."
Verge
NPR
Open Magazine
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers divided the trial into two phases: a liability phase, in which the jury's verdict will be advisory, and a remedies phase decided solely by the judge. The liability phase is expected to conclude by May 21.
CNBC
The Mendocino Voice
Musk is seeking damages he estimates at up to $150 billion, with any recovery directed to OpenAI's charitable arm rather than to himself. He is also asking the court to remove Altman and Brockman from their roles and to unwind OpenAI's for-profit conversion.
The Economic Times
Verge
Internal documents unsealed during the case include diary entries by OpenAI president Greg Brockman, in which he wrote in 2017, "This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon." Altman, Brockman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are among the prominent witnesses expected to testify.
Reuters
Court Listener
Business Insider
On the morning jury selection began, OpenAI announced changes to its agreement with Microsoft, removing an AGI clause, ending cloud exclusivity and making Microsoft's IP license non-exclusive through 2032. Musk also used his X platform to boost a New Yorker investigation into Altman's conduct ahead of the trial.
NIK on X
Wired
The New Yorker

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

OpenAI stripped every structural protection of its charitable mission — the profit cap, the AGI clause, the Microsoft exclusivity — and did it while jury selection was underway. That's not coincidence, that's a company caught in the act of converting a public-good institution into a private cash machine. Musk funded and built OpenAI for humanity, got zero equity, and the people who took over are now dismantling the last guardrails in real time.

NIK on X

Elon Musk on X

Narrative B

OpenAI's mission — democratizing AI so power doesn't consolidate in a few hands — is exactly what this lawsuit threatens to derail. The goal is universal prosperity, not a legal spectacle driven by a competitor who wants to kneecap a rival. Musk will finally face questioning under oath, and the truth will show this case was never about protecting humanity, it was about protecting market position.

OpenAI Newsroom on X

Sam Altman on X

Narrative C

This four-week trial isn’t just a billionaire feud — it’s a referendum on who controls the future of AI. The outcome could reshape OpenAI’s governance, its path to an IPO, and how its technology is shared. Whether it doubles down as a profit-driven leader or is forced back toward its nonprofit roots will ripple across the entire AI industry.

Wired