Combined images include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit held in San Francisco, California, USA on November 16, 2023 and Viva dedicated to innovation and startups held at Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center in Paris, France on June 16, 2023. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of Company X, formerly known as Twitter, is pictured during the Technology conference.
Carlos Barria | Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Jury selection has begun in federal court in Oakland, California, in the high-stakes legal battle between longtime friends-turned-rivals Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing the case between the world’s richest man and OpenAI’s CEO, which begins Monday. Nine jurors are seated, with no alternates, according to the March filing. CNBC is in court for the proceedings.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, filed a lawsuit in 2024 against the company, Altman, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, alleging that they violated their pledge to make the artificial intelligence lab nonprofit and follow its charitable mission. OpenAI has repeatedly dismissed Musk’s claims as “baseless.” Musk stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018, launched rival xAI five years later, and merged the company with SpaceX earlier this year.
Musk has sought various remedies over the course of the lawsuit, including removing Altman and Brockman from their roles at OpenAI. Musk’s lawyers said in January that he should receive up to $134 billion in “illicit profits,” but he has since asked that those funds be funneled to OpenAI charities.
Gonzalez-Rogers chose to divide the trial into two parts. One is the liability stage, which determines whether wrongdoing occurred, and the other is the remedy stage, which determines appropriate damages and next steps. Because the jury only deliberates during the liability phase and its verdict is advisory, Gonzalez-Rogers will have the final say on both sections of the trial.
The liability phase of the trial is scheduled to last until mid-May. If OpenAI is found to be at fault, Gonzalez-Rogers will hear arguments for the relief phase, which is scheduled to begin on May 18.
Musk alleges in his lawsuit that he was “relentlessly manipulated” and “deceived” by OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman and their promises to “chart a safer and more open path than the profit-driven tech giants.” He asked the judge to consider undoing the company’s recent restructuring, which solidified its structure as a nonprofit organization with control over a for-profit business.
Of the 26 claims Musk made in 2024, only two remain: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust. Musk’s lawyers dismissed two claims of fraud and constructive fraud ahead of trial to “streamline the case,” according to the filing.
The trial comes as Musk prepares to list SpaceX in what is likely to be a record IPO, and as OpenAI prepares for its own public offering expected later this year. The combined private market value of both companies is more than $2 trillion.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
WATCH: Elon Musk and Sam Altman to appear in court next week — what to expect at trial
