Elon Musk's $134 billion lawsuit against OpenAI goes to trial Monday — reduced to two core claims after fraud allegations dropped

Musk filed suit in November 2024 alleging that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman promised OpenAI would remain a nonprofit, but then shifted it to a for-profit structure and accepted over $13 billion from Microsoft. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers narrowed the case from 26 claims to just two: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust. Jury selection begins Monday in Oakland federal court.

The case centers on whether OpenAI's leadership violated the original mission that early donors like Musk were told they were funding. If Musk wins, any damages would go to OpenAI's charitable arm, not to him personally—a move designed to frame this as defending the public interest rather than personal gain.

For anyone invested in OpenAI's direction or the governance of AI research institutions, this trial will expose internal emails and conversations between Musk, Altman, and Brockman from OpenAI's founding years, likely revealing how the company justified its shift from nonprofit to profit-driven entity.