OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI leader Elon Musk are set to go to court in a high-profile trial over the company the two cofounded. The case will be overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been vocal about its significance, citing it as “billionaire vs. billionaire.”
Musk’s lawsuit accuses OpenAI founders Altman and Greg Brockman of plotting a for-profit switch “to enrich themselves,” deviating from the company’s original mission. OpenAI, Altman and Brockman have denied the claims, and they called Musk “a frustrated commercial competitor seeking to slow down a mission-driven market leader.”
The trial is expected to last for four weeks, and a number of tech executives are expected to testify. According to an NBC report, the witnesses likely to take the stand include Musk and Altman, as well as a potential testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Former OpenAI board members are also expected to testify.
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Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, was initially seeking more than $100 billion in damages. However, any damages now are likely to be much smaller after a series of pre-trial rulings that went against Musk. Musk has since said that any compensation should go to OpenAI’s non-profit arm rather than to him personally.
Musk’s lawsuit also seeks Altman’s ouster from OpenAI’s board.
According to a report by AP, the trial carries risk for Musk, who last month was held liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. Any damaging details about Musk and his business tactics could be particularly damaging since his aerospace company SpaceX is set to go public, in an IPO that could potentially make him a trillionaire.
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“Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,” Gonzalez Rogers said during a court hearing earlier this year while explaining why she believes the case merited a trial. The judge will make the final decision on the case, with the jury serving in an advisory role.
Rogers also warned against “gamesmanship” and stated that she will refuse to “waste precious judicial resources.” In an effort to maintain decorum in the courtroom during this high-stakes case, she has mandated that all parties enter through the “regular front door” for security screenings, adding that high profiles do not justify “special privileges.”