Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and X, is set to go to trial against Sam Altman’s OpenAI. The legal battle may mark the culmination of a years-long feud over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and solutions developed by the ChatGPT-maker. At the heart of the lawsuit is a ‘broken promise’. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, claims the company has betrayed its founding mission. Musk argues that under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI – which was originally established as a nonprofit to develop AI for the benefit of all humanity – has transformed into a “closed-source” for-profit subsidiary of Microsoft.
Musk vs Altman: The war of words
Altman and OpenAI have hit back hard, dismissing the lawsuit as a “distraction” fueled by competitive jealousy. They point out that Musk is now building xAI, a direct competitor to OpenAI, and claim he is using the legal system to sabotage ChatGPT’s success.The story began in 2015 when Musk, Altman, and top researchers like Ilya Sutskever founded OpenAI to counter the growing dominance of Google. Musk contributed roughly $100 million to ensure AI wouldn’t be controlled by a few massive corporations.However, the high cost of computing power created financial strain. By 2019, Musk resigned from the board following a failed bid for more control. Shortly after, Altman created a “capped-profit” arm. The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 changed everything. While OpenAI dominated the headlines, internal chaos brewed, including a brief five-day period in 2023 where the board fired Altman, only for him to return after an employee revolt. Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI.
What’s at stake on April 27
Musk’s lawsuit seeks to hold Altman and OpenAI accountable for their shift toward profit. He argues that he was inspired to fund the project under the guise of open research and human benefit. OpenAI maintains the case is legally weak and driven by Musk’s own business interests.
