Elon Musk has withdrawn his fraud allegations against OpenAI and its co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, significantly narrowing his lawsuit against the company ahead of trial.
On Friday, United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted Musk’s request to streamline the case, allowing only two of the 26 claims in his November 2024 complaint to move forward.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, according to Bloomberg.
Musk contends that the artificial intelligence startup strayed from its original nonprofit mission to serve humanity after securing billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft Corp. and pursuing plans to restructure as a for-profit entity.
Musk is seeking up to $134 billion in damages, which he has asked the court to award to OpenAI’s charitable arm if he prevails at trial.
He is also requesting an order to restore the company’s status as a nonprofit research organization and to remove Sam Altman and Greg Brockman from their leadership positions.
Altman serves as chief executive officer, while Brockman is president.
Two weeks ago, OpenAI told the judge that Musk’s proposed remedies came as a last-minute surprise and accused the world’s richest person of staging a “legal ambush” just as the trial approaches.
OpenAI, Altman, Brockman and Microsoft have denied any wrongdoing, describing Musk’s lawsuit as baseless and an act of harassment.
The trial will unfold in two phases. In the first, a jury will hear arguments and testimony on Musk’s remaining claims — unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust.
The jury will then deliver an advisory verdict, which will not be binding on Judge Gonzalez Rogers, who will ultimately determine whether Musk has proven his case.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman and others in 2015, but the former allies have since become fierce rivals.
He stepped down from the company’s board in 2018 and later, in 2023, launched artificial intelligence startup xAI — now one of OpenAI’s key competitors.
