2025-05-02 14:01:04
Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive officer Sam Altman has moved closer to a trial.
The 53-year-old billionaire – who is an OpenAI co-founder and donated approximately $45 million to get the artificial intelligence research organisation off the ground in November 2023 – began taking legal action against its 40-year-old CEO, the company itself and its biggest supporter, Microsoft, in 2024.
It comes as Elon claims OpenAI is continuing to pursue its ambition to turn from a non-profit to a for-profit corporation – which the Tesla boss thinks the move is a breach of the terms of his previous donations to the firm and fraud.
Musk also requested a preliminary injunction – a temporary court order that prevents any changes or disruptions to a case before the court decides on it – to stop OpenAI’s conversion.
However, a judge declined this in March but agreed to accelerate the trial – which is scheduled to take place in March 2026.
As well as that, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, of the Northern District of California, rejected some parts of the case – including Elon’s breach of contract claims – on Thursday (01.05.25), but she was satisfied that Musk has made adequate allegations against OpenAI and Altman, and she is keeping the fraud allegations alive.
In her ruling – which OpenAI can appeal against – Judge Rogers said: “Musk adequately alleges that the defendants promised to maintain OpenAI’s non-profit status and structure in order to obtain his contributions, and that they intended to do so in order to obtain the capital needed to create a for-profit venture to enrich themselves.
“Although there is no express contract, Musk adequately pleads in the alternative that there is an implied-in-fact contract.”
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