CALIFORNIA: OpenAI and Elon Musk have agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model, marking the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the world’s richest person and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, now being played out publicly in court.
Billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI jointly proposed a trial in December, according to a federal court filing on Friday.
The parties agreed to delay a decision on whether the expedited case will be decided by a jury or solely by the judge, according to the filing in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The judge this month denied Musk’s request to pause OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit model but agreed to an expedited trial in the autumn, the latest twist in the high-stakes legal battle.
“We welcome the court’s March 4 decision rejecting Elon Musk’s latest attempt to slow down OpenAI for his personal benefit,” OpenAI said in a blog post on Friday.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and later founded the competing startup xAI in 2023.
Last year, the CEO of Tesla and owner of the X social media platform sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission — to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, not for corporate profit.
OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman claims that Musk has been attempting to slow down a competitor.
At the heart of the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker’s transition to a for-profit model, which the startup argues is essential to raising more capital and staying competitive in the costly AI race.
OpenAI’s last fundraising round of $6.6 billion and a new round of up to $40 billion, currently under discussion with SoftBank Group, are contingent on OpenAI restructuring to remove nonprofit control.
Friday’s filing comes weeks after Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid from a Musk-led consortium with a firm “no, thank you.”
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