OpenAI's fate to be decided within three weeks

The courtroom battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI, which kicked off this week in California, is expected to last roughly three weeks but could have ripple effects for years. Musk alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, false advertising, and unfair business practices. His core claim is that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman induced him to donate on the understanding that any artificial general intelligence (AGI) built at OpenAI would remain open and shared with humanity. Instead, Musk argues, the founders turned the charity into a 'wealth machine.' Outside court, Musk has been throwing insults at his opponents, prompting the judge to threaten a gag order.

Musk wants the jury to unwind OpenAI's for-profit conversion, remove Altman from the nonprofit board, and strip both Altman and Brockman of their roles in the for-profit entity. He is demanding $130 billion in damages for what his team calls 'ill-gotten gains' and has accused Microsoft of 'aiding and abetting.' Musk's legal team argues OpenAI's existing models already constitute AGI because they have surpassed human intelligence in many tasks, meaning AGI could not be commercially licensed under the founding agreement. A win for Musk would almost certainly derail OpenAI's planned initial public offering, expected in late 2026 at a $1 trillion valuation, and could lead to clawbacks for recent investors.