GoKawiilA yearslong legal brawl between Elon Musk, the world's richest man, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman heads to court in Northern California on Monday in a dramatic showdown between two of the most high-profile names in the tech industry.
In his $134 billion lawsuit, Musk claimed that OpenAI, Altman and the company's president, Greg Brockman, reneged on a vow they made to keep the artificial intelligence lab a nonprofit in perpetuity. OpenAI has since restructured so that it can operate a for-profit subsidiary, and it's now valued at over $850 billion.
Musk and Altman were once close friends, and were among a group of techies who founded OpenAI in 2015 out of a shared concern over the potential power of AI and the need to advance it in ways that would benefit humanity.
Now they're public enemies and bitter rivals, with Musk having started xAI as an OpenAI competitor in 2023 and recently merging it with SpaceX in a deal valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. The trial lands as Musk is preparing to take SpaceX public in what will likely be a record IPO.
OpenAI is targeting a potential fourth-quarter market debut, as CNBC previously reported. In a document distributed to prospective investors earlier this year, OpenAI characterized the ongoing litigation with Musk as a potential risk to its business.
The startup has repeatedly dismissed Musk's lawsuit as "baseless," calling it a "harassment campaign that's driven by ego, jealousy and a desire to slow down a competitor," according to a post on X earlier in April.
The war of words has been going on for months.
"Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes," Musk wrote in August in a post on X, which is part of xAI.
"Really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months, Christmas in April!," Altman wrote on X in February.
Jury selection in Musk v. Altman begins Monday in a federal courthouse in Oakland, just over the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, where OpenAI is headquartered. Should he succeed, Musk said, he wants the court to return all "ill-gotten gains" to OpenAI's nonprofit, not to him personally. He's also seeking to have Altman and Brockman removed from their roles and to "unwind OpenAI's for-profit conversion and restructuring."
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