Jury selection in Musk v. Altman begins Monday at the federal courthouse in Oakland, with Elon Musk seeking roughly $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft. On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dropped Musk's fraud and constructive fraud counts at his own request, leaving breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment for the jury. The trial arrives as OpenAI eyes a potential public offering that Reuters has reported could value the company at $1 trillion.

Key Takeaways

AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.

The two surviving claims

Of the 26 counts Musk filed in November 2024, only four had survived heading into trial week. Two now remain. Friday's order dismissed the fraud and constructive fraud counts that Musk himself had asked the judge to drop, leaving breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment for jurors to weigh. Both turn on Musk's argument that OpenAI moved away from its original nonprofit mission after he left the board in 2018. "Trial begins in five days but Plaintiff still refuses to state plainly what claims he will pursue and what remedies he will seek," OpenAI's lawyers wrote in a Wednesday filing, characterizing the late-stage narrowing as "evasive tactics."

What Musk is asking for

Court filings cited by Engadget put the disgorgement Musk wants from OpenAI between $65.5 billion and $109.43 billion, with another $13.3 billion to $25.06 billion sought from Microsoft, the named co-defendant on the charitable trust claim. Musk wants any award redirected to OpenAI's nonprofit arm rather than to him personally, and he wants Altman and Brockman removed from their roles. Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff, in a statement to The New York Times, said his client wants the court "to return everything that was taken from a public charity, and to make sure the people responsible are never in a position to do this again." Musk also wants the court to unwind OpenAI's for-profit conversion, a remedy Gonzalez Rogers has called "extraordinary and rarely granted."

The trial structure

Gonzalez Rogers divided the trial into two phases: a liability phase expected to run through mid-May and a remedies phase scheduled to begin May 18. Nine jurors will be seated with no alternates, and their verdict will be advisory, with Gonzalez Rogers making the final decision in both phases. "However, if the jury finds that Musk failed to file his action within the statute of limitations, it is highly likely that the Court will accept that finding and direct verdict to the defendants," Gonzalez Rogers wrote in the same filing. Counsel for Musk and OpenAI have been allotted roughly 20 hours each to present their cases. Microsoft, five hours.

How the dispute reached this point

The case traces back to a May 25, 2015 email in which Altman proposed a "Manhattan Project for AI" to Musk, who replied that the idea was "probably worth a conversation," according to records published by The New York Times. Musk left OpenAI's board in February 2018 after a failed bid to merge the lab into Tesla, and OpenAI bolted a for-profit arm onto the original nonprofit in 2019, eventually raising $13 billion from Microsoft. Then came the lawsuit. In his March 2024 complaint, Musk alleged Altman and Brockman had "assiduously manipulated" him into donating tens of millions to a charitable mission they later abandoned. Court filings show that in 2017, Jared Birchall, the head of Musk's family office, registered a company called Open Artificial Intelligence Technologies that was meant to be a for-profit incarnation of OpenAI. "His own words and actions speak for themselves," OpenAI said in a court filing. "Elon not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit as OpenAI's proposed new structure."

Legal scholars frame the case as a test of how courts will treat nonprofit-to-for-profit conversions in AI. "At the heart of this trial is that OpenAI began as a non-profit organization, and then decided that it needed to be a for-profit organization in order to raise the enormous sums of money it needed to develop the technology it wanted to create," Michael Dorff, executive director of the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA, told Engadget. "That is a very troublesome transition under the law." Dorff said it is "highly unlikely" Musk will succeed in unwinding the October recapitalization that the California and Delaware attorneys general helped negotiate, in part because Musk's involvement with rival xAI "may also weigh heavily on the judge's mind."

Jury selection begins Monday in the federal courthouse in Oakland. Opening arguments are expected Tuesday, with court in session weekdays through mid-May, according to Reuters. Witnesses on the disclosed list include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, former board member Shivon Zilis and co-founder Ilya Sutskever. If OpenAI is found liable, the remedies phase begins May 18.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Musk want from the lawsuit?

Roughly $150 billion in damages — between $65.5 billion and $109.43 billion disgorged from OpenAI, plus $13.3 billion to $25.06 billion from Microsoft. He also wants Altman and Brockman removed from their roles, OpenAI's for-profit conversion unwound, and any monetary award redirected to OpenAI's nonprofit arm rather than to him personally.

Why did the judge dismiss the fraud claims?

Musk himself asked Judge Gonzalez Rogers to drop them. His attorneys argued that dismissing the fraud and constructive fraud counts would streamline the case and keep jurors focused on the breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment claims, which his team views as the strongest grounds for the broader nonprofit-mission argument.

How is the trial structured?

Two phases. The liability phase runs through mid-May with a nine-juror panel whose verdict is advisory only. If OpenAI is found liable, a remedies phase begins May 18 in which Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, not the jury, decides damages and structural remedies. Counsel for Musk and OpenAI each have roughly 20 hours; Microsoft has five.

Why is Microsoft a defendant?

Microsoft is named as a co-defendant on the breach of charitable trust claim. Musk's filings allege Microsoft, OpenAI's longtime backer with $13 billion invested, aided and abetted OpenAI's alleged misconduct. Musk seeks $13.3 billion to $25.06 billion in disgorgement from Microsoft, and CEO Satya Nadella appears on the disclosed witness list.

Can Musk really unwind OpenAI's for-profit conversion?

Legal scholars say it is highly unlikely. Judge Gonzalez Rogers has already called the remedy 'extraordinary and rarely granted,' and the October recapitalization was negotiated with the California and Delaware attorneys general. UCLA's Michael Dorff told Engadget that Musk's role at competitor xAI may also weigh against him on that question.

AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.

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