Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Will Face a Jury in March

A lawsuit has been filed by Elon Musk against OpenAI and its co-founders. The case will go to trial as there is enough evidence to be heard by a jury according to a US judge.

Musk believes that OpenAI and its founders violated their original agreements when they moved towards a profit motive rather than focusing on their original goals of creating artificial Intelligence for the good of mankind. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI and early financial supporter of the company until he left the Board of Directors in 2018 after trying twice, unsuccessfully, to be appointed as CEO instead of Altman. At the time, Musk pointed to potential conflicts of interest with Tesla’s AI work on self-driving technology, though disagreements over OpenAI’s direction were already emerging.

Since his departure, Musk has been an outspoken critic of OpenAI’s move toward a for-profit structure. That tension escalated in February 2025, when he made an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to acquire the company a bid Altman declined. Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab, OpenAI began shifting away from that model in 2019 by creating a for-profit subsidiary with a capped-profit structure, allowing it to raise significant capital while limiting investor returns.

Musk’s legal challenge failed to block OpenAI’s restructuring. In October 2025, the organization completed its transition, with its for-profit arm becoming a Public Benefit Corporation and the original nonprofit retaining a 26% ownership stake.

Musk is now seeking financial damages, arguing that OpenAI generated “ill-gotten gains” after abandoning its original commitments. He says he invested roughly $38 million in early funding, along with strategic guidance and credibility, based on assurances that the organization would remain nonprofit.

OpenAI has dismissed the lawsuit as “baseless,” calling it part of what it describes as Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment. However, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said her decision to allow the case to proceed was based on evidence suggesting OpenAI’s leadership may have assured Musk that the nonprofit structure would be preserved. A jury trial has been tentatively scheduled for March.