Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman goes beyond OpenAI: it's a legal way to express personal hatred.
Musk accuses OpenAI and Altman of violating their founding agreement to be a non-profit organization
The rivalry with the CEO of OpenAI goes beyond business. It's personal.
That Elon Musk and Sam Altman hate each other is nothing new. What is new is that their rivalry is about to end up in court. Yesterday, jury selection took place for the trial that will decide whether, as Musk claims, OpenAI violated its founding agreement to be a non-profit organization. Much more than that is at stake; the case is shaping up to be a real soap opera in which years of personal conflict will be aired.
The accusation
In 2024, Elon Musk sued Sam Altman and OpenAI for violating the company's founding agreement, which stated that "OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company." The SpaceX CEO, who was one of OpenAI's founders, claims he was defrauded and that once they received his money ($38 million), the company "radically changed the narrative and became focused on profiting (...) by exploiting his humanitarian concerns." Musk is seeking the removal of Sam Altman and its president, Greg Brockman, as well as $134.000 billion to be allocated to OpenAI's non-profit branch.
OpenAI's response
According to the company, Elon Musk was aware of the plan to become a for-profit entity, which was a necessary step for the company. OpenAI says Musk is jealous and "regrets having stepped down" in 2018. Furthermore, they say the money Musk contributed was not an investment, but a donation, and does not give him any ownership rights over OpenAI, as reported in The Guardian.
The rupture
OpenAI was founded in 2015, and shortly after, in 2017, it became clear that developing the envisioned AGI would require a huge amount of money, something difficult for a non-profit organization to secure. The possibility of a collaboration between OpenAI and Tesla was raised to address the funding issue. According to OpenAI, Musk wanted complete control of the company, and this is where everything went wrong.
The timing
Despite leaving the company in 2018, Musk didn't sue OpenAI until 2024. During this time, OpenAI launched ChatGPT and ultimately signed its major deal with Microsoft. Apparently, this is what finally angered Musk, who accused OpenAI of becoming a subsidiary of Microsoft. His goal was to nullify the agreement, although much has changed since then.
Today, OpenAI is the world's most valuable private company, with investments from giants like NVIDIA, Amazon, and Softbank. If Musk wins, his problem is no longer canceling the agreement with Microsoft, but something much more important: it jeopardizes his planned IPO.
A personal rivalry
Beyond the official accusations, Musk and Altman have a personal rivalry that has been brewing for years with countless public barbs and accusations. Musk has called Altman a liar and a fraud (often referring to him as 'Scam Altman') and said that ChatGPT is a 'woke' AI.
Altman has not been far behind; he has said that Musk is an idiot and even ridiculed him for the Tesla he bought that was never delivered, going so far as to publish emails asking for a refund.
The trial is expected to air private details such as Elon Musk's use of ketamine, something OpenAI considers relevant as it accurately reflects his mental state. Let the show begin.
Original article by: xataka.com | April 29, 2026
