Jury Selection Begins in Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI in Oakland

Jury selection began Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, in Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing Sam Altman and OpenAI of abandoning the company’s founding promise to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity, CBS News and NBC News reported.

Musk sued in 2024, alleging that Altman, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and the company turned a nonprofit research lab into a profit-driven enterprise. OpenAI, now valued at $852 billion according to CBS News and NPR, completed a restructuring in October in which its for-profit arm still reports to a nonprofit foundation, NBC News said. CBS News reported that Musk is seeking an unspecified amount to fund OpenAI’s charitable arm and Altman’s removal from the board. NBC News said Musk earlier estimated the restitution he wants at $134 billion, and later said any funds taken from OpenAI and its executives should go to the charitable arm.

OpenAI rejects the claims. In a post on X, the company called the suit a “baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor,” noting Musk’s xAI makes the rival Grok chatbot, CBS News reported. Altman’s side says Musk left in 2018 and never gave the full $1 billion he pledged, and that he agreed years ago on the need to convert to a for-profit company, NBC News reported, arguing instead that Musk wanted to fold OpenAI into Tesla.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is presiding and will make the final decision, with the jury serving in an advisory role, CBS News and NBC News reported. The trial was scheduled for about four weeks, according to NBC News (the AP later described it as three weeks), with Musk, Altman and possibly Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expected to testify. Opening statements could come as early as Tuesday, CBS News and NPR said, and the AP later reported the jury was seated Monday.

Experts say the stakes go beyond the two men. Julia Powles, a UCLA technology law professor, told CBS News the dispute centers on who will control the technology and profit from it: “Both are arguing in this case that they have the public good at heart.” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the case could intensify the AI arms race among OpenAI, xAI and Anthropic and could reshape the governance of AI research. OpenAI is expected to go public later this year, according to CBS News; not independently confirmed.

Both men have relished the confrontation. Musk posted in January that “the discovery and testimony will blow your mind,” and Altman wrote in February that he was “really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months,” NBC News reported.