Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI will go before a jury in March

It’s Elon Musk a case against OpenAI will go on trial after a US judge said there was evidence to prove the billionaire’s case.

Musk sued OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2024, claiming that they gave away their original contracts in pursuit of profit instead of the goal of starting a non-profit organization to create AI that benefits people.

Musk, who started the profit himself company xAIwas a financial backer and co-founder of OpenAI. He resigned in 2018 after his bid to take over the role of CEO was rejected by other co-founders, who put Altman in the role. Officially, Musk cited potential conflicts with Tesla’s development of AI for self-driving cars.

Since joining OpenAI, he has been a a voice critic about the transformation of the company into a profit model, and even made unclaimed $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI in February 2025, which Altman rejected. OpenAI, which was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab, began to move away from its non-profit roots in 2019 and create a for-profit company with the kind of “profit” that few investors return. This is designed to help OpenAI raise the capital it needs to scale and attract top talent.

Musk’s lawsuit could not stop OpenAI from turning into a non-profit, and in October 2025, the organization. he completed his reformation plan. The for-profit branch became the Public Benefit Corporation, while the original non-profit retained a 26% share of the capital.

Musk is now seeking damages for what he says was “ill-gotten gains” by OpenAI. They are said to have invested $38 million in initial funding, as well as guidance and loyalty, based on assurances that OpenAI would remain unprofitable.

A spokesperson for OpenAI told TechCrunch Musk that the lawsuit is “baseless and part of its pattern of harassment.”

District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said her decision was based on evidence that OpenAI leaders had assured that its original non-profit plan would be maintained, as Musk claims. A jury trial in March has been scheduled.

This article has been updated with comments from OpenAI.