Summary
- Elon Musk withdrew all but two of his 26 claims in his major lawsuit against Sam Altman, leaving only unjust enrichment and charitable-trust violations.
- Musk says OpenAI shifted from a nonprofit to a for-profit company with support from Microsoft, breaking its nonprofit pledge and taking improper gains.
- Musk is seeking as much as $134 billion in damages and said he would transfer the money to an OpenAI charitable foundation if he wins.
Musk narrows lawsuit against Sam Altman two days before trial
Only two of 26 claims remain: unjust enrichment and charitable-trust violations
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, has withdrawn most of his claims against OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman two days before a major court fight is set to begin. Musk has also said that if he wins, he would place OpenAI under a charitable foundation.
Bloomberg and Reuters reported on April 25 that Musk would drop all but two of his 26 claims, leaving only unjust enrichment and charitable-trust violations. Musk has long argued that Altman misled him by promising to develop open-source artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity to counter Google’s DeepMind.
Musk has repeatedly called Altman a “swindler” on social media. He also withdrew fraud-related claims he had brought against Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman.
Musk argues that OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit but later turned into a for-profit company with backing from Microsoft. He says he contributed $38 million in seed funding in 2015, and that OpenAI then broke its nonprofit pledge and improperly profited from the shift.
Musk has said that if he prevails, he would place OpenAI under a charitable foundation. He is seeking damages of as much as $134 billion and said he would turn that amount over to an OpenAI charitable foundation if he wins.
He has also called for Altman and Brockman to be removed. Altman, Brockman and Microsoft have pushed back, calling Musk’s claims baseless harassment. Musk and Altman once worked together to lead OpenAI. Their relationship soured after Musk left the company in 2018.
The lawsuit between the two technology-industry heavyweights was filed in 2024. Formal proceedings are scheduled to begin on April 27. Juror selection is set for April 27 at federal district court in Oakland, California, with opening statements planned for April 28.
Park Su-bin, Hankyung.com reporter waterbean@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
