GoKawiilOpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrives at the federal courthouse, as the trial in Elon Musk's lawsuit over OpenAI's for-profit conversion continues, in Oakland, California, U.S., May 14, 2026.
The first phase of the Musk v. Altman trial concluded proceedings in federal court in Oakland, California, on Thursday after attorneys for Elon Musk and OpenAI presented their closing arguments to the jury.
The nine-person jury, which is made up of six women and three men, will begin deliberating on Monday. The jury’s verdict will be advisory, which means Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will make the final decision on liability.
“You must decide the case solely on the evidence before you,” Gonzalez Rogers told the jury Thursday morning, in reading out the formal instructions. “You will recall you took an oath to do so.”
Musk sued OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, the company's president, in 2024, alleging they went back on their commitment to keep the artificial intelligence startup a nonprofit and for unjustly enriching themselves. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI alongside Altman and Brockman in 2015, claims the roughly $38 million he donated to the company was used for unauthorized commercial purposes.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, reiterated his arguments that OpenAI failed to open source its technology, prioritize AI safety and follow nonprofit customs and practices. He also claimed that OpenAI insiders and investors, including Altman, Brockman and Microsoft , enriched themselves at Musk’s expense.
Sarah Eddy and William Savitt, attorneys for OpenAI, pushed back on Molo’s statements on Thursday. They said Altman and Brockman never made commitments to Musk about OpenAI’s corporate structure, and that Musk’s donations were spent and used properly. They also noted that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO filed the lawsuit only after launching his competing AI startup, xAI.
“He never cared about the nonprofit structure,” Eddy told the jury. “What he cared about was winning.”
Microsoft is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and attorney Russell Cohen presented the company’s closing arguments to the jury. Musk accused Microsoft, OpenAI's principal investor, of aiding and abetting the company's purported breach of charitable trust. Cohen said Microsoft had no knowledge of those events and couldn't have participated in them.