Musk Lawyers Accuse OpenAI of Deception as Trial Closes

Closing arguments concluded Thursday in a federal courtroom in Oakland as lawyers for Elon Musk pressed their case that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission in favor of profit and personal gain. Musk, who helped found the company in 2015 and contributed roughly 38 million dollars in its early years, claims chief executive Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman misled him about the organizations direction and later structured deals that enriched insiders while sidelining the goal of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than shareholders.

Musk attorney Steven Molo told jurors that OpenAI executives violated their charitable trust by converting the entity into a public benefit corporation and striking a close partnership with Microsoft. He pointed to testimony from former board members and executives who described stock grants and side arrangements that stood to reward Altman and others handsomely if the company went public. The suit seeks Altmans removal from the board, an end to the for profit structure, and up to 150 billion dollars in damages that Musk has said would return to OpenAI nonprofit arm.

OpenAI countered that Musk waited too long to file and that its evolution into a hybrid structure was transparent and necessary to attract talent and capital. The company labeled the lawsuit a competitive tactic aimed at slowing a rival while Musk builds his own AI venture. Lawyers also argued that Musk own conduct, including his decision to leave the country during the trial despite a judges warning he could be recalled, undermines his credibility. Musk flew to China for President Trumps state visit even after the court left him subject to recall, a move that required a fourteen hour flight from Beijing back to the Bay Area if needed.

Jurors must first decide whether the claims fall within the statute of limitations, a threshold the judge has indicated could decide the case. Testimony over recent weeks included appearances by Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, OpenAI co founder Ilya Sutskever, and Musk himself. Former OpenAI leaders described internal tensions over the shift from pure nonprofit status, while Altman defended the companys record on safety research and its continued commitment to broad benefit.

The outcome carries weight beyond the immediate parties. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Musks xAI are all eyeing large initial public offerings that would rank among the biggest in recent memory. A ruling against OpenAI could complicate those plans and shift influence among the handful of firms racing to control advanced AI systems. Musk has long warned that concentrated power over such technology poses risks to public safety and democratic accountability, a concern echoed by some of the very researchers who left OpenAI in recent years.

Whether the jury accepts the argument that OpenAI broke faith with its founding donors or concludes the suit arrived too late, the proceedings have already laid bare the rapid transformation of a once idealistic project into a multibillion dollar enterprise deeply intertwined with Microsoft. The decision expected in coming days will determine if that transformation faces any legal check.