OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:49 AM – Monday, April 27, 2026
Tech CEOs Elon Musk and Sam Altman are set to engage in a trial in Oakland, California, in the culmination of years of feuding after Musk accused Altman of betraying the founding agreement of OpenAI, an AI non-profit they started together, by making it a for-profit enterprise.
Some of the most prolific names in the tech industry are expected to testify in the case in court this week, with jury selection on Monday. The trial is slated to last two or three weeks, with both Musk and Altman to take the witness stand, in addition to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
xAI CEO Musk is accusing Altman of breach of contract and unjust enrichment for making OpenAI, ChatGPT’s parent company, into a moneymaking venture behind his back.
OpenAI, its president, Greg Brockman, and its major partner, Microsoft, are also defendants in the case. Microsoft became the company’s largest investor after Musk cut off payments in 2018, when he left the board.
Musk, who invested about $38 million into OpenAI between December 2015 and May 2017, initially sought over $100 billion in damages. However, after a series of pre-trial rulings did not favor Musk, he has decided to demand that an unspecified amount of money be paid to OpenAI’s charitable arm.
The Tesla and SpaceX owner is also seeking to oust Altman from OpenAI’s board for his purportedly deceptive conduct. He emphasized that the board picked up on this misconduct when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023, though he got the job back days later.
OpenAI has denied Musk’s allegations, arguing that he had agreed in 2017 that the necessary next step for the company would be establishing a profitable entity, and that he is “motivated by jealousy” and “regret for walking away.”
The company said that Musk’s funding was a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit, not an investment, and therefore does not entitle him to any ownership.
It also contended that Musk may be intent on using the high-profile trial to boost xAI, his own for-profit corporation.
“Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,” U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said during a court hearing earlier this year, explaining why she believe the case deserved a trial.
The testimonies in the upcoming trial are expected to give insights into their bitter falling-out, as well as some details behind the AI race.
An email exchange from 2023, which surfaced as evidence for the trial, has already begun to characterize the nature of the tech titans’ relationship.
Altman, who called Musk his “hero,” wrote, “I am tremendously thankful for everything you’ve done to help —I don’t think OpenAI would have happened without you — and it really … hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI.”
“I hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake,” Musk replied.
Musk decidedly has his hands full with this trial, as well as a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, which is imposing a new law this summer aimed at preventing AI platforms from discriminating against users based on race. The Department of Justice (DOJ) joined the case in an unprecedented intervention, as it also contends that Colorado’s law is meant to force Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) standards on private companies, thereby infringing on 1st and 14th Amendment protections.
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