Musk vs. OpenAI: Billionaire's Landmark Lawsuit Heads to Jury Monday After Fiery Closing Arguments
Techstrong.ai, Saturday, May 16th, 2026
Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI alleging breach of charitable trust heads to jury deliberations Monday.
Elon Musk and OpenAI concluded their landmark civil trial with closing arguments Thursday, with the case heading to jury deliberations Monday. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, alleges that CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman breached charitable trust by secretly pivoting the company from a nonprofit mission to develop safe AGI into a lucrative commercial partnership with Microsoft.
OpenAI's defense contends that Musk supported the for-profit restructuring before launching his own rival AI firm, xAI, and is now pursuing this case out of personal spite. The jury must also decide whether Musk filed the suit within the statute of limitations, and a verdict could have far-reaching implications for OpenAI's planned IPO and the broader tech industry.