Elon Musk v OpenAI trial opens in Oakland as Musk testifies Altman 'looted' the AI nonprofit and seeks $150 billion in damages

The trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI — including its chief executive Sam Altman and investor Microsoft — has commenced at the US District Court in Oakland, California, before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. A nine-member jury will hear evidence over what is expected to be a month-long trial. Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages and an order that OpenAI unwind its conversion from a nonprofit organisation into a for-profit corporate structure. On the first day of testimony, Musk alleged that Altman had "looted" the nonprofit he co-founded, characterising OpenAI's structural transformation as the theft of a charity. His lead counsel, Steven Molo, compared OpenAI's conversion to a museum store appropriating the museum's collection for private profit. OpenAI's lead counsel, William Savitt, dismissed Musk's claims as "sour grapes" — arguing that Musk became litigious only after OpenAI's ChatGPT became commercially successful in 2022, years after Musk himself departed the organisation in 2018. OpenAI is currently valued at approximately $730 billion. Microsoft, which has invested heavily in the company, was also named as a defendant. Judge Gonzalez Rogers admonished Musk about social media posts targeting OpenAI prior to the start of proceedings, asking both parties to maintain a clean slate online during the trial.

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