At a Glance
- A federal judge rejected dismissal requests from OpenAI and Microsoft, setting a jury trial for late April in Oakland.
- Elon Musk claims the companies betrayed OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission.
- The judge dismissed Musk’s claim that Microsoft unjustly enriched itself at his expense.
Why it matters: The trial could determine whether OpenAI violated its founding commitments when it accepted billions from Microsoft and shifted to a for-profit model.
A federal judge has ruled that OpenAI and Microsoft must face Elon Musk in court, rejecting their attempts to dismiss his lawsuit and scheduling a jury trial for late April in Oakland.
The legal battle stems from Musk’s claim that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission after accepting billions from Microsoft and restructuring as a for-profit company. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Sam Altman and others, with the goal of building AI for charitable purposes.
The relationship between the co-founders soured. Musk left OpenAI and later launched his own AI company, xAI, in 2023. Since then, he has accused OpenAI of betraying its founding principles.
OpenAI has dismissed Musk’s lawsuit as “baseless” and “harassment,” calling it an attempt to slow the company’s progress. Despite their legal clash, OpenAI and Microsoft remain business partners while increasingly competing in the AI space.
The judge found sufficient evidence to allow a jury to determine whether OpenAI breached its nonprofit commitments. A jury will also decide whether Microsoft knowingly assisted OpenAI in breaking its promises. However, Musk’s claim that Microsoft unjustly enriched itself at his expense was dismissed.
The trial is set to begin in late April, where the companies will face off in a federal courtroom.
