And so naturally, there\u2019s a lot of internal tech gossip coming to light. Questions about Elon\u2019s \u201crhino ket\u201d use won\u2019t make it into the trial<\/a>\u2026 but it\u2019s in news stories because it showed up in the docket<\/a>. We got excerpts<\/a> from OpenAI President Greg \u201cWhat will take me to $1B?\u201d Brockman\u2019s diary. Mark Zuckerberg, not involved in the litigation at all, has had several embarrassing texts made public<\/a>, like allegedly telling Musk that he had Meta teams \u201con alert to take down content doxxing or threatening the people on your [DOGE] team,\u201d weeks after claiming he refuses<\/a> to moderate based on government requests. Also, Musk thinks Jeff Bezos \u201cis a bit of a tool.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Lawsuits appear to be Musk\u2019s preferred alternative to therapy<\/p>\n The fact that the case got to trial at all is a win for Musk, who seems to be trying to damage OpenAI\u2019s reputation however he can \u2014 from lawsuits to general shit-talking to, apparently, a homophobic dossier on Sam Altman<\/a> that\u2019s getting passed around Silicon Valley by \u201cMusk intermediaries.\u201d Musk v. Altman \u201conly ended up at trial because Elon Musk can pay his attorneys to argue a losing case,\u201d said Sam Brunson, a professor of law at Loyola University of Chicago. \u201cIf I were doing this on contingency, I\u2019d assume I wouldn\u2019t be getting paid.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the next few weeks, high-profile AI executives, such as Microsoft\u2019s CEO Satya Nadella and CTO Kevin Scott, will likely testify. Former OpenAI executives, such as cofounder Ilya Sutskever and Mira Murati, former CTO, may be called<\/a>. The former board members involved in Altman\u2019s temporary 2023 ouster from his CEO role may also testify.<\/p>\n Lawsuits appear to be Musk\u2019s preferred alternative to therapy. Musk has sued perceived adversaries of his X social media platform, including a suit against a nonprofit that was dismissed as \u201cbaseless\u201d<\/a> and another against the firm<\/a> that successfully made him follow through on his agreement to buy Twitter. Tesla and SpaceX are hotbeds of litigation. Let\u2019s not go over the numerous family law matters that Musk is involved in due to his 14 known children.<\/p>\n Musk has actually filed four lawsuits against OpenAI. The first \u2014 for a breach of the founding agreement \u2014 was in state court<\/a>, in 2024; Musk withdrew it immediately before a major hearing. We then got the current lawsuit<\/a>, also filed in 2024, in which Musk alleged \u201cShakespearean\u201d deceit. Several of its claims, including a laughable invocation of racketeering law, have been dismissed. Another suit, filed a year later<\/a>, this time by xAI, accused Apple and OpenAI of engaging in anticompetitive behavior by making an agreement to exclusively put ChatGPT into iPhones. (The case is ongoing<\/a>.) A fourth case accused OpenAI<\/a> of poaching xAI employees and stealing trade secrets. It was dismissed<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSince launching a competing artificial intelligence company, xAI, Musk has been trying to leverage the judicial system for an edge.\u201d<\/p>\n In court starting next week, Musk will be making three main claims: that Altman and Brockman, et al., breached OpenAI\u2019s charitable trust; that they participated in unjust enrichment (at Musk\u2019s expense); and that they committed fraud. His lawyer will tell a jury that he was duped into giving OpenAI money on terms that Altman and Brockman didn\u2019t live up to. Among other things, he\u2019s demanding that Altman and Brockman be removed from their company roles, that OpenAI be required to award a certain amount of money to its nonprofit, and that it cease operating in its current structure as a public benefit corporation.<\/p>\n OpenAI has countered that Musk failed to prove that Altman and Brockman ever made him a \u201ccognizable promise\u201d that could amount to unlawful activity, and that he lacks the standing for some claims, among other objections. It\u2019s pointed out that Musk could have intervened in the company\u2019s 2025 recapitalization in the time between OpenAI filing and its review by two attorneys general, and he did not. \u201cThis suit is the latest move in Elon Musk\u2019s increasingly blusterous campaign to harass OpenAI for his own competitive advantage,\u201d OpenAI wrote in one filing<\/a>. \u201cSince launching a competing artificial intelligence company, xAI, Musk has been trying to leverage the judicial system for an edge. The effort should fail.\u201d<\/p>\n In court, OpenAI could argue that it engaged in self-help \u2014 such as starting its for-profit arm \u2014 because Musk left it in the lurch when he pulled promised funding from the nonprofit, says Peter Molk, a professor of law at the University of Florida. But that may not be enough to protect OpenAI. \u201cMy walking away doesn\u2019t mean you can break any agreement we have,\u201d Molk says. Musk may argue that OpenAI should have brought him to court and forced him to pay up. Of course, if OpenAI had done that, it likely would have gone bankrupt.<\/p>\n The details that come out in the trial about OpenAI \u201cwill absolutely change its reputation, if it\u2019s still trying to claim it\u2019s doing this in some high-minded, \u2018we want to make AI safe for humanity\u2019 way,\u201d said Deven Desai, a professor of business law and ethics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThe court documents and testimonies will make it harder and harder for OpenAI to keep claiming that\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dI think at this point OpenAI has the leverage to ask for a soft promise for new investors not to invest in competitors.\u201d<\/p>\n Since this lawsuit was initially filed, OpenAI\u2019s reputation has cratered. Besides the assorted lawsuits<\/a> from people who say ChatGPT encouraged loved ones\u2019 suicides, constant exec reshuffling,<\/a> and the dominance of Anthropic\u2019s enterprise product have significantly cooled enthusiasm for the company. And there\u2019s always the question of whether OpenAI, one of the most expensive startups ever, will make a profit<\/a> that meets investors\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n Already, we\u2019ve found out<\/a> that Sutskever and others were worried about the success of Stability AI, a then-competitor open-source lab. Sutskever also felt \u201cbetrayed\u201d by Reid Hoffman, an early investor, founding his own AI lab; in response, Altman said, \u201cI think at this point OpenAI has the leverage to ask for a soft promise for new investors not to invest in competitors.\u201d Altman also didn\u2019t tell the board he was personally running an OpenAI VC fund, according to a deposition of former board member Helen Toner.<\/p>\n Some of the damages Musk is calling for in his lawsuit \u2014 like the demands to unseat executives and change the company\u2019s business structure \u2014 are likely unrealistic. State attorneys general from California and Delaware both blessed OpenAI\u2019s restructuring. But Georgia Tech\u2019s Desai says that even if the federal court doesn\u2019t move to act on such requests, Musk might still get what he wants. The suit could do real damage, especially ahead of OpenAI\u2019s impending IPO, and amid some shareholders reportedly questioning<\/a> if Altman is the person to lead the company during that process \u2014 especially as allegations<\/a> of his untrustworthiness and manipulative behavior resurface.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s strategy here is likely not just about angling to win in court, but also to \u201cgo after OpenAI as it currently exists,\u201d says Desai. \u201cIt\u2019s to create enough issues around how it has evolved to cause trouble and possibly get to the point where even if Musk doesn\u2019t win, he\u2019ll have made it look like it\u2019s not worth keeping Mr. Altman in his position.\u201d<\/p>\n Any scandalous information about OpenAI\u2019s C-suite could derail the IPO<\/p>\n Musk has his own AI project with xAI and is nakedly trying to damage a competitor, says Molk. Much of the damage \u2014 bad PR, the cost of litigation, and distracting Altman and other executives as they begin to prepare for an initial public offering \u2014 occurs outside the purview of the courtroom, Molk says. \u201cAs long as there is some credibility [to Musk\u2019s case], the motivation doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The suit is part of a yearslong feud between Altman and Musk, ever since their personal and working relationships both soured in a public way. Musk\u2019s xAI is aimed at the same government contracts and consumer chatbot users as OpenAI. He also folded xAI into SpaceX, as he had planned to do with OpenAI and Tesla.<\/p>\n OpenAI has responded<\/a> to Musk<\/a> by blogging<\/a>. According to OpenAI, Musk himself wanted a for-profit arm of OpenAI \u2014 and further, 50 to 60 percent of its equity, and to be its CEO. He also proposed merging OpenAI with Tesla. OpenAI\u2019s lawyers, playing dirtier, asked in depositions about Musk\u2019s purported escapades at Burning Man, including whether he\u2019d ingested \u201crhino ketamine.\u201d This fits with its legal tactics elsewhere \u2014 including subpoenaing nonprofits<\/a> and requesting a full list of who attended a deceased 16-year-old\u2019s memorial services<\/a>.<\/p>\n OpenAI is racing both SpaceX and Anthropic for an initial public offering. And there\u2019s more investor pressure than ever to generate revenue, after companies like OpenAI and Anthropic raised billions of dollars without generating profit. Reportedly, even OpenAI\u2019s CFO<\/a> doesn\u2019t believe the company is ready to go public in 2026 due to its sizable spending commitments. Other executives have nevertheless expressed a desire to beat Anthropic<\/a> to the public market. Any scandalous information about OpenAI\u2019s C-suite could derail the IPO.<\/p>\n Zilis: \u201c\u2018Relationship\u2019 is a relative term. But there have been romantic moments.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk is also potentially vulnerable to mud-slinging. Musk\u2019s SpaceX has filed confidentially for an IPO, which may happen as soon as June. Anything revealed in the courtroom about xAI or Musk personally could potentially affect investor interest or confidence, particularly since the IPO may follow so quickly on the heels of the trial. We already know from texts surfaced in discovery that Musk was actively recruiting from OpenAI<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are other topics \u2014 such as Musk\u2019s relationship with Shivon Zilis, the former board member of OpenAI and mother of several of his children \u2014 that are particularly sensitive, too. Zilis, who was effectively OpenAI\u2019s \u201cElon whisperer,\u201d has already questioned what the meaning of a \u201cromantic relationship\u201d is in her deposition<\/a>. (Zilis: \u2018Relationship\u2019 is a relative term. But there have been romantic moments.\u201d) And in a 2018 text message, Zilis asks Musk if she should stay \u201cclose and friendly\u201d to OpenAI to \u201ckeep info flowing.\u201d She also told Musk that after he hung up on a call, Sutskever was \u201cvisibly devastated\u201d and Musk could probably recruit him if he wanted to.<\/p>\n Another key witness on OpenAI\u2019s list is Jared Birchall, Musk\u2019s fixer \u2014 who, among other things<\/a>, runs Musk\u2019s family office<\/a>. Birchall is likely privy to a number of Musk\u2019s secrets, and his testimony could be damaging.<\/p>\n On the other hand, \u201cI\u2019m not sure how much reputation Musk has left to lose,\u201d says Brunson.<\/p>\n Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Elizabeth LopattoClose Elizabeth Lopatto<\/p>\n Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All by Elizabeth Lopatto<\/a><\/p>\n Hayden FieldClose Hayden Field<\/p>\n Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All by Hayden Field<\/a><\/p>\n AIClose<\/p>\n AI<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All AI<\/a><\/p>\n AnalysisClose<\/p>\n Analysis<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n Elon MuskClose<\/p>\n Elon Musk<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Elon Musk<\/a><\/p>\n OpenAIClose<\/p>\n OpenAI<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All OpenAI<\/a><\/p>\n PolicyClose<\/p>\n Policy<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Policy<\/a><\/p>\n PoliticsClose<\/p>\n Politics<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Politics<\/a><\/p>\n ReportClose<\/p>\n Report<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Report<\/a><\/p>\n TechClose<\/p>\n Tech<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n![\"Elizabeth](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ELIZABETH_LOPATTO.0.jpg\"\/)
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