OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk, Alleging 'Harassment' and 'Fake Takeover Bid'

Elon Musk wants to be "AGI dictator," OpenAI tells court

Yesterday, OpenAI counter-sued Elon Musk, alleging that Musk's "sham" bid to buy OpenAI was intentionally timed to maximally disrupt and potentially even frighten off investments from honest bidders. Slamming Musk for attempting to become an "AGI dictator," OpenAI said that if Musk's allegedly "relentless" yearslong campaign of "harassment" isn't stopped, Musk could end up taking over OpenAI and tanking its revenue the same way he did with Twitter. In its filing, OpenAI argued that Musk and the other investors who joined his bid completely fabricated the $97.375 billion offer. It was allegedly not based on OpenAI's projections or historical performance, like Musk claimed, but instead appeared to be "a comedic reference to Musk's favorite sci-fi" novel, Iain Banks' Look to Windward. Musk and others also provided "no evidence of financing to pay the nearly $100 billion purchase price," OpenAI said. And perhaps most damning, one of Musk's backers, Ron Baron, appeared "flustered" when asked about the deal on CNBC, OpenAI alleged. On air, Baron admitted that he didn't follow the deal closely and that "the point of the bid, as pitched to him (plainly by Musk) was not to buy OpenAI's assets, but instead to obtain 'discovery' and get 'behind the wall' at OpenAI," the AI company's court filing alleged. Likely poisoning potential deals most, OpenAI suggested, was the idea that Musk might take over OpenAI and damage its revenue like he did with Twitter. Just the specter of that could repel talent, OpenAI feared, since "the prospect of a Musk takeover means chaos and arbitrary employment action." And "still worse, the threat of a Musk takeover is a threat to the very mission of building beneficial AGI," since xAI is allegedly "the worst offender" in terms of "inadequate safety measures," according to one study, and X's chatbot, Grok, has "become a leading spreader of misinformation and inflammatory political rhetoric," OpenAI said. Even xAI representatives had to admit that users discovering that Grok consistently responds that "President Donald Trump and Musk deserve the death penalty" was a "really terrible and bad failure," OpenAI's filing said. Despite Musk appearing to only be "pretending" to be interested in purchasing OpenAI -- and OpenAI ultimately rejecting the offer -- the company still had to cover the costs of reviewing the bid. And beyond bearing costs and confronting an artificially raised floor on the company's valuation supposedly frightening off investors, "a more serious toll" of "Musk's most recent ploy" would be OpenAI lacking resources to fulfill its mission to benefit humanity with AI "on terms uncorrupted by unlawful harassment and interference," OpenAI said. OpenAI has demanded a jury trial and is seeking an injunction to stop Musk's alleged unfair business practices -- which they claimed are designed to impair competition in the nascent AI field "for the sole benefit of Musk's xAI" and "at the expense of the public interest." "The risk of future, irreparable harm from Musk's unlawful conduct is acute, and the risk that that conduct continues is high," OpenAI alleged. "With every month that has passed, Musk has intensified and expanded the fronts of his campaign against OpenAI, and has proven himself willing to take ever more dramatic steps to seek a competitive advantage for xAI and to harm [OpenAI CEO Sam] Altman, whom, in the words of the president of the United States, Musk 'hates.'" OpenAI also wants Musk to cover the costs it incurred from entertaining the supposedly fake bid, as well as pay punitive damages to be determined at trial for allegedly engaging "in wrongful conduct with malice, oppression, and fraud." OpenAI's filing also largely denies Musk's claims that OpenAI abandoned its mission and made a fool out of early investors like Musk by currently seeking to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation (which removes control by its nonprofit board). "You can't sue your way to AGI," an OpenAI blog said. Musk's lawyer did not immediately respond to Ars' request for comment. Musk's attempt to become an "AGI dictator" According to OpenAI's filing, "Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI" ever since OpenAI refused to allow Musk to become an "AGI dictator" and fully control OpenAI by absorbing it into Tesla in 2018. Musk allegedly "demanded sole control of the new for-profit, at least in the short term: He would be CEO, own a majority equity stake, and control a majority of the board," OpenAI said. "He would -- in his own words -- 'unequivocally have initial control of the company.'" At the time, OpenAI rejected Musk's offer, viewing it as in conflict with its mission to avoid corporate control and telling Musk: "You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you. ... The goal of OpenAI is to make the future good and to avoid an AGI dictatorship. ... So it is a bad idea to create a structure where you could become a dictator if you chose to, especially given that we can create some other structure that avoids this possibility." This news did not sit well with Musk, OpenAI said. "Musk was incensed," OpenAI told the court. "If he could not control the contemplated for-profit entity, he would not participate in it." Back then, Musk departed from OpenAI somewhat "amicably," OpenAI said, although Musk insisted it was "obvious" that OpenAI would fail without him. However, after OpenAI instead became a global AI leader, Musk quietly founded xAI, OpenAI alleged, failing to publicly announce his new company while deceptively seeking a "moratorium" on AI development, apparently to slow down rivals so that xAI could catch up. OpenAI also alleges that this is when Musk began intensifying his attacks on OpenAI while attempting to poach its top talent and demanding access to OpenAI's confidential, sensitive information as a former donor and director -- "without ever disclosing he was building a competitor in secret." And the attacks have only grown more intense since then, said OpenAI, claiming that Musk planted stories in the media, wielded his influence on X, requested government probes into OpenAI, and filed multiple legal claims, including seeking an injunction to halt OpenAI's business. "Most explosively," OpenAI alleged that Musk pushed attorneys general of California and Delaware "to force OpenAI, Inc., without legal basis, to auction off its assets for the benefit of Musk and his associates." Meanwhile, OpenAI noted, Musk has folded his social media platform X into xAI, announcing its valuation was at $80 billion and gaining "a major competitive advantage" by getting "unprecedented direct access to all the user data flowing through" X. Further, Musk intends to expand his "Colossus," which is "believed to be the world's largest supercomputer," "tenfold." That could help Musk "leap ahead" of OpenAI, suggesting Musk has motive to delay OpenAI's growth while he pursues that goal. That's why Musk "set in motion a campaign of harassment, interference, and misinformation designed to take down OpenAI and clear the field for himself," OpenAI alleged. Even while counter-suing, OpenAI appears careful not to poke the bear too hard. In the court filing and on X, OpenAI praised Musk's leadership skills and the potential for xAI to dominate the AI industry, partly due to its unique access to X data. But ultimately, OpenAI seems to be happy to be operating independently of Musk now, asking the court to agree that "Elon's never been about the mission" of benefiting humanity with AI, "he's always had his own agenda." "Elon is undoubtedly one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time," OpenAI said on X. "But these antics are just history on repeat -- Elon being all about Elon."

OpenAI attorneys call for Musk to be enjoined from 'further unlawful and unfair action' | TechCrunch

The dramatic suit between OpenAI and its estranged co-founder, billionaire Elon Musk, shows no sign of letting up. In a filing Wednesday, attorneys for OpenAI and the other defendants in the case, including CEO Sam Altman, called for Musk to be enjoined from "further unlawful and unfair action" and "held responsible for the damage he has already caused" to the defendants. "OpenAI is resilient," reads the filing. "But Musk's actions have taken a toll. Should his campaign persist, greater harm is threatened -- to OpenAI's ability to govern in service of its mission, to the relationships that are essential to furthering that mission, and to the public interest [...] Musk's continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in the fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI's future, must cease." Attorneys for Musk didn't immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Musk's suit against OpenAI accuses the startup of abandoning its nonprofit mission to ensure its AI research benefits all humanity. OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015, but converted to a "capped-profit" structure in 2019, and now seeks to restructure once more into a public benefit corporation. Musk had sought a preliminary injunction to halt OpenAI's transition to a for-profit. In March, a federal judge denied the request -- but permitted the case to go to a jury trial in spring 2026. Musk, once a key supporter of OpenAI, is now perhaps its greatest adversary. The stakes are high for OpenAI, which reportedly needs to complete its for-profit conversion by 2025 or relinquish some of the capital it has raised in recent months. A group of organizations, including nonprofits and labor groups like the California Teamsters, petitioned California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit entity, claiming that the company "failed to protect its charitable assets" and is actively "subverting its charitable mission to advance safe artificial intelligence."

Ex-OpenAI staff file amicus brief opposing the company's for-profit transition | TechCrunch

A group of ex-OpenAI employees on Friday filed a proposed amicus brief in support of Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, opposing OpenAI's planned conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit corporation. The brief names twelve former OpenAI employees: Steven Adler, Rosemary Campbell, Neil Chowdhury, Jacob Hilton, Daniel Kokotajlo, Gretchen Krueger, Todor Markov, Richard Ngo, Girish Sastry, William Saunders, Carrol Wainwright, and Jeffrey Wu. It makes the case that, if OpenAI's non-profit ceded control of the organization's business operations, it would "fundamentally violate its mission." Several of the ex-staff have spoken out against OpenAI's practices publicly before. Krueger has called on the company to improve its accountability and transparency, while Daniel Kokotajlo and William Saunders previously warned that OpenAI is in a "reckless" race for dominance. Wainwright has said that OpenAI "should not [be trusted] when it promises to do the right thing later." OpenAI was founded as a non-profit in 2015, but it converted to a "capped-profit" in 2019, and is now trying to restructure once more into a public benefit corporation. When it transitioned to a capped-profit, OpenAI retained its nonprofit wing, which currently has a controlling stake in the organization's corporate arm. Musk's suit against OpenAI accuses the startup of abandoning its non-profit mission, which aimed to ensure its AI research benefits all humanity. Musk had sought a preliminary injunction to halt OpenAI's conversion. A federal judge denied the request, but permitted the case to go to a jury trial in spring 2026. According to the ex-OpenAI employees' brief, OpenAI's present structure -- a nonprofit controlling a group of other subsidiaries -- is a "crucial part" of its overall strategy and "critical" to the organization's mission. Any restructuring that removes the nonprofit's controlling role would not only contradict OpenAI's mission and charter commitments, but also "breach the trust of employees, donors, and other stakeholders who joined and supported the organization based on these commitments," asserts the brief. "OpenAI committed to several key principles for executing on [its] mission in their charter document," the brief reads. "These commitments were taken extremely seriously within the company and were repeatedly communicated and treated internally as being binding. The court should recognize that maintaining the nonprofit's governance is essential to preserving OpenAI's unique structure, which was designed to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits humanity rather than serving narrow financial interests." Artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is broadly understood to mean AI that can complete any task a human can. According to the brief, OpenAI often used its structure as a recruitment tool -- and repeatedly assured staff that the nonprofit control was "critical" in executing its mission. The brief recounts an OpenAI all-hands meeting toward the end of 2020 during which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman allegedly stressed that the nonprofits' governance and oversight were "paramount" in "guaranteeing that safety and broad societal benefits were prioritized over short-term financial gains." "In recruiting conversations with candidates, it was common to cite OpenAI's unique governance structure as a critical differentiating factor between OpenAI and competitors such as Google or Anthropic and an important reason they should consider joining the company," reads the brief. "This same reason was also often used to persuade employees who were considering leaving for competitors to stay at OpenAI -- including some of us." The brief warns that, should OpenAI be allowed to convert to a for-profit, it might be incentivized to "potentially [cut] corners" on safety and develop powerful AI "concentrated among its shareholders." A for-profit OpenAI would have little reason to abide by the "merge and assist" clause in OpenAI's current charter, which pledges that OpenAI will stop competing with and assist any "value-aligned, safety-conscious" project that achieves AGI before it does, asserts the brief. The ex-OpenAI employees, some of whom were research and policy leaders at the company, join a growing cohort voicing strong opposition to OpenAI's transition. Earlier this week, a group of organizations, including non-profits and labor groups like the California Teamsters, petitioned California Attorney General Rob Bonta to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit. They claimed the company has "failed to protect its charitable assets" and is actively "subverting its charitable mission to advance safe artificial intelligence." Encode, a non-profit organization that co-sponsored California's ill-fated SB 1047 AI safety legislation, cited similar concerns in an amicus brief filed in December. OpenAI has said that its conversion would preserve its non-profit arm and infuse it with resources to be spent on "charitable initiatives" in sectors such as healthcare, education, and science. In exchange for its controlling stake in OpenAI's enterprise, the nonprofit reportedly stands to reap billions of dollars. "We're actually getting ready to build the best-equipped nonprofit the world has ever seen -- we're not converting it away," the company wrote in a series of posts on X on Wednesday. The stakes are high for OpenAI, which needs to complete its for-profit conversion by the end of this year or next or risk relinquishing some of the capital it has raised in recent months, according to several reports. We've reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this piece if we hear back.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk to stop his attacks and 'fake takeover bid'

Jay Peters is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. OpenAI filed a countersuit against Elon Musk on Wednesday, saying on X that "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." In the lawsuit, OpenAI's lawyers argue that "Musk's continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in the fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI's future, must cease. Musk should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action, and held responsible for the damage he has already caused." Musk, who was part of the initial founding team at OpenAI, initially sued last spring, saying he wanted to force the company to "return to its mission to develop AGI for the benefit of humanity" instead of pursuing profits. (The Verge's editor-in-chief, Nilay Patel, found Musk's legal case against OpenAI "hilariously bad.") Musk dropped that lawsuit in June but sued OpenAI again in August. In December, OpenAI published a blog post with the headline "Elon Musk wanted an OpenAI for-profit," with receipts. The case is scheduled to go to trial in the spring of 2026. Earlier this year, Musk also offered $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI, saying in a statement that "it's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was." OpenAI's board of directors unanimously rejected the offer, which today's filing called a "sham bid."

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk for 'Nonstop' Harassment

Elon Musk and Sam Altman in 2015 (Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair) OpenAI has countersued Elon Musk over his alleged efforts to stunt the company's growth amid OpenAI's push to switch from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity. "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit. Today, we counter-sued to stop him," OpenAI says. The countersuit was filed in a US District Court in California on Wednesday. It comes after Musk first sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in March 2024, alleging breach of contract because OpenAI strayed from its founding mission. A few months later, Musk dropped that lawsuit but renewed the legal fight in August, alleging wire fraud, among other claims. In December, Musk filed an injunction aiming to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company. A judge denied that request but agreed to expedite the trial. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman and Greg Brockman, claims that a for-profit model would steer the company away from its original mission to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits all humanity and would cause "widespread investor losses and market disruption." OpenAI claims that Musk wanted to merge the company with Tesla and turn it into a for-profit entity in 2017 and 2018, citing emails with Musk. Altman and Brockman rejected that request. "Over and over in OpenAI's early years, Musk predicted that the enterprise would fail unless it bowed to his vision, his plans, and his control," OpenAI says in its countersuit. Musk left OpenAI's board in 2018, at which time he 'declared OpenAI was 'on a path of certain failure relative to Google.'" When OpenAI and ChatGPT took off in 2022, "Musk could not abide it," the suit says. Musk maligned ChatGPT as a propaganda machine and launched an OpenAI competitor called xAI in 2023, which includes a ChatGPT rival called Grok. He "set in motion a campaign of harassment, interference, and misinformation designed to take down OpenAI and clear the field for himself," OpenAI says. Musk also made an unsolicited offer to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion in February, but it was unanimously rejected by the board. Altman mocked Musk by making a counter-offer to buy X for $9.7 billion. (The next month, xAI acquired X for $33 billion.) "Musk should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action and held responsible for the damage he has already caused," OpenAI says in its countersuit. According to OpenAI, a for-profit structure will allow the company "to better compete for capital and top talent" in the AGI race. Furthermore, to secure the entire $40 billion from its current fundraising round, the company needs to complete the transition by the end of this year, according to Reuters. A jury trial of the case is set to begin in spring next year. Musk expanded the case in November by adding Microsoft as a defendant.

OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk with countersuit

Billionaire 'tried every tool available to harm' us, says super lab, and it wants a judge to end 'harassment' OpenAI has countersued co-founder Elon Musk, accusing him of unlawful and unfair tactics to derail its restructuring plans and demanding a judge hold him liable for damage allegedly inflicted on the AI super-lab. The sizable countersuit [PDF] and answer to Musk's assertions was filed in California federal court yesterday. While it accuses the Tesla tycoon of a wide range of behavior intended to undermine OpenAI's operations, including "harassment, interference, and misinformation," the countersuit's two claims for relief zero in on Musk's February attempt to buy the ChatGPT maker for $97.375 billion. While Musk's team has portrayed the offer as genuine, OpenAI's lawyers call it something else entirely. Rather than a serious acquisition bid, OpenAI claims Musk's move was a "sham" designed "to interfere with OpenAI's contemplated corporate restructuring." Musk is no longer involved in OpenAI, and runs a rival artificial intelligence outfit, xAI, among other businesses. "The letter included no evidence of financing to pay the nearly $100 billion purchase price," OpenAI said in its countersuit filing, adding that none of the investors listed in Musk's letter of intent had done any due diligence. One investor later admitted, per court records, that Musk's intent was to gain access to OpenAI's internal materials through the legal proceedings and "get behind the wall" at the Microsoft-backed super lab. "Although OpenAI recognized the bid as a feint, its mere existence - and the media firestorm surrounding it - required OpenAI to expend significant resources in responding to it," the AI giant said. It's that effort, and the so-called "sham bid," that led OpenAI to accuse Musk of unfair and fraudulent business practices, as well as tortious interference with prospective economic advantage (ie, when a third party disrupts a potential deal to the plaintiff's detriment). OpenAI is seeking injunctive relief to stop Musk's alleged interference and restitution for the resources it claims were wasted responding to his bid. We asked OpenAI what it hoped to achieve, and it directed us to the court filing and to its comments made on Musk's X, where the AI biz said the countersuit was meant to put a stop to his "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." [Musk] tried to seize control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla as a for-profit - his own emails prove it. When he didn't get his way, he stormed off "Elon's never been about the mission. He's always had his own agenda," OpenAI continued. "He tried to seize control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla as a for-profit - his own emails prove it. When he didn't get his way, he stormed off." For those who've tried their best to ignore Musk and OpenAI chief Sam Altman's feud, a bit of history may be necessary. Musk was one of OpenAI's co-founders, but he stormed off in 2018 following internal disagreements over control and strategic direction. OpenAI alleges the SpaceX oligarch proposed merging OpenAI with Tesla (which has AI-powered self-driving goals) or sought full control, which the Altman outfit declined, leading to his exit. At one point, OpenAI's leadership feared Musk would become a "dictator" of AGI, or powerful artificial general intelligence, if he was allowed complete control over the lab, judging from emails surfaced during this legal battle. "You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you," OpenAI co-founder and mega-boffin Ilya Sutskever wrote to Musk. "The goal of OpenAI is to make the future good and to avoid an AGI dictatorship." In March 2024, Musk sued OpenAI and Altman alleging breach of contract, unfair business practices, and fiduciary failures related to OpenAI's close association with Microsoft and the establishment of a for-profit subsidiary. (OpenAI started out as a non-profit.) Musk withdrew this lawsuit in June last year without providing a public reason, but filed a nearly identical one a couple months later. He claimed OpenAI's shift toward a for-profit model contradicted its original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity. OpenAI's legal team described Musk's complaint as "lurch[ing] from theory to theory, distort[ing] its own exhibits, and trad[ing] from start to finish on fact-free and often ad hominem conclusions." OpenAI denies it's becoming a solely for-profit company, claiming in its countersuit that its restructuring plan would only see its for-profit subsidiary become a public benefit corporation. That move is necessary, OpenAI asserted, to allow the outfit to better compete for capital "in service of the mission to develop AGI for the benefit of humanity." That said, OpenAI continues to raise tens of billions of dollars in funding, $40 billion as recently as late March. An OpenAI spokesperson further told The Register it had no intention to abandon its non-profit core. "Our board has been very clear that we intend to strengthen the non-profit so that it can deliver on its mission for the long term," OpenAI told us. "We're not selling it, we're doubling down on its work." OpenAI also pointed us to last week's announcement of a commission comprising experts in health, science, education, and public services to guide the org's planned evolution. "We look forward to the input and advice from leaders who have experience in community-based organizations on how we can help them achieve their missions," OpenAI said in an emailed statement. However, OpenAI reportedly has to complete its transition to a for-profit entity by the end of 2025 to secure that aforementioned $40 billion in funding led by SoftBank. Musk's lawsuit is likely to only slow that down, especially since the trial, per a pretrial order this week, isn't set to begin until March 2026. Neither Musk - famously now President Trump's éminence grease - nor his legal team responded to questions for this story. ®

Musk and OpenAI jury trial to begin in spring next year

OAKLAND, April 4 (Reuters) - - Billionaire Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI will go to a jury trial in spring 2026, the federal judge presiding over the case decided on Friday. Last month, OpenAI and Musk agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI's for-profit shift, the latest turn in a grudge match between the world's richest person and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman playing out publicly in court. The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, had denied Musk's request to pause the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model and instead proposed an expedited trial. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and subsequently founded the competing startup xAI in 2023. xAI last month acquired Musk's social media company X in a deal that values X at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. OpenAI is under pressure to transition quickly. The company is currently raising a funding round Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." Reporting by Anna Tong in Oakland, California; Editing by Leslie Adler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Boards, Policy & Regulation Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claims harassment

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Reuters) - OpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday, citing a pattern of harassment by Musk and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any "further unlawful and unfair action" against OpenAI in a court case over the future structure of the firm that helped launch the AI revolution. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Recently Musk, who went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, has tried to prevent the ChatGPT maker from transitioning to a for-profit model, culminating in the current court case. In order for OpenAI to secure the entire $40 billion of its current fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the company wrote in a filing in Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." The two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Musk's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, OpenAI said: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Musk's xAI last month acquired X in a deal that values the social media company at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Musk did not respond to a request for comment on the OpenAI filing. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; editing by Peter Henderson and Leslie Adler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Boards, Policy & Regulation Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University.

Group of ex-OpenAI employees back Musk's lawsuit to halt OpenAI restructure

SAN FRANCISCO, April 11 (Reuters) - A dozen former OpenAI employees filed a legal brief on Friday backing co-founder Elon Musk's lawsuit aimed at keeping the non-profit status of OpenAI, marking the latest development in the dispute over the future of the artificial intelligence firm. Corporate leaders want to give investors control, drawing a host of concerns and a lawsuit from Musk and others who say business interests must be subordinated to humanitarian goals. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations. In their federal court filing on Friday, the former employees contended that stripping the nonprofit of its controlling role would "fundamentally violate" its mission, as it would lose oversight of the for-profit AI development entity. The former OpenAI employees, who said they held technical and leadership roles in the company, said the nonprofit's oversight was crucial to its overall strategy, and that while they worked at the firm, OpenAI executives had emphasized repeatedly the structure's importance in OpenAI's ability to execute on its mission. The structure also helped with recruitment, and many employees joined because they were inspired by the nonprofit's mission, they said. OpenAI has argued that it needs to remove the nonprofit's controlling role in order to raise funds from investors. The nonprofit will retain a stake in OpenAI that will become increasingly valuable as the company grows, enriching the nonprofit with deep resources to carry out its mission, the company argues. In a statement, OpenAI said the transition would not affect its mission: "Our Board has been very clear: our nonprofit isn't going anywhere and our mission will remain the same." Musk and Altman cofounded ChatGPT maker OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Musk's opposition to the change in structure led to the current suit, and the two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Recently Musk also went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, and Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. OpenAI, meanwhile, faces pressure from investors to change its structure. In order for OpenAI to secure a $40 billion fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. . Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; editing by Diane Craft Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Boards, Policy & RegulationADAS, AV & SafetySoftware-Defined VehicleSupply ChainSustainable & EV Supply Chain Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk in legal dispute over ChatGPT maker's business ambitions

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence startup a decade ago. The allegations against Musk were filed Wednesday in a federal court in California as a counterclaim to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year. Musk, an early OpenAI investor who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit research laboratory. A federal judge in March denied Musk's request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk's claims. She offered to hold a trial later this year, but it has been pushed back to March 2026.

Ex-OpenAI staffers support Musk's case against startup's effort to transform into for-profit company

Sam Altman, left, and Elon Musk.Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu | Getty Images A group of 12 ex-OpenAI staffers, in support of Elon Musk's lawsuit against the artificial intelligence startup, asked a court's permission on Friday to share their concerns about the company's transformation into a for-profit entity. The individuals collectively worked at OpenAI between 2018 and 2024, which covers "the organization's formative years through its more recent development," the request said. The brief was filed with a district court in California by Lawrence Lessig, who is representing the group. The purpose of the request is to support Musk's arguments in his case against OpenAI and his effort to keep the AI research project, which Musk co-founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, from transforming into a for-profit entity. "If the OpenAI Nonprofit agreed to a change in the OpenAI corporate structure which took away its controlling role, that would fundamentally violate its mission," the filings says. OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, has been commercializing products in recent years, most notably its viral ChatGPT chatbot, which was launched in late 2022. The company is still overseen by a nonprofit parent and has faced significant hurdles in its goal to restructure into a for-profit, due largely to Musk, who has become one of Altman's chief adversaries and now has his own rival startup, xAI. A Musk-led group offered to buy OpenAI in February for $97.4 billion, an bid that was swiftly rejected. Last month, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank at a $300 billion valuation, the largest private tech funding on record. OpenAI's hybrid structure includes a capped-profit limited partnership created in 2019. The original nonprofit is the controlling shareholder and would be spun out as an independent entity if the company restructures. OpenAI's venture backers have received convertible notes that would turn into equity. In the Friday brief, Lessig wrote that, in addition to abandoning its original mission, the conversion to a for-profit company would "breach the trust of employees, donors, and other stakeholders who joined and supported the organization" based on its commitments. The ex-staffers named in the brief are Steven Adler, Rosemary Campbell, Neil Chowdhury, Jacob Hilton, Daniel Kokotajlo, Gretchen Krueger, Todor Markov, Richard Ngo, Girish Sastry, William Saunders, Carrol Wainwright and Jeffrey Wu. Some have spoken out about their experiences at OpenAI in the past. The filing said the named parties also "have a significant interest in this litigation as it addresses fundamental questions about OpenAI's mission and organizational structure that they helped shape during their employment." The case between Musk and OpenAI has taken numerous turns since the Tesla CEO initiated litigation early last year, alleging the company abandoned its founding mission to develop artificial intelligence "for the benefit of humanity broadly." A federal district court last month blocked Musk's attempt to stop OpenAI's transition to a for-profit company. Earlier this week, OpenAI filed a countersuit against Musk, claiming the world's richest person has "tried every tool available to harm" the company. That lawsuit is asking for punitive damages from Musk's actions and an injunction to stop him from interfering further in its operations.

OpenAI says Musk has run 'unlawful campaign of harassment' against company in lawsuit

Sam Altman, left, and Elon Musk.Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu | Getty Images OpenAI on Wednesday filed suit against Elon Musk, claiming the world's richest person has "tried every tool available to harm" the artificial intelligence company. The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court that last month blocked Musk's attempt to stop the nonprofit from transforming into a for-profit entity, is asking for punitive damages from Musk's actions and an injunction to stop him from interfering further in its operations. Musk is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owns social media site X as well as OpenAI rival xAI, which he started in 2023. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," OpenAI said in Wednesday's filing. Musk's attorney, Marc Toberoff, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Along with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Musk helped to form OpenAI as a research lab in 2015 but later had a public break with the project and has consistently criticized OpenAI's close alliance with Microsoft. In February, a Musk-led group offered to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion, a bid that was swiftly rejected. Last month investors backed OpenAI in a round that valued the startup at $300 billion. Musk established xAI months after OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in late 2022. OpenAI said last month that 500 million people use its ChatGPT assistant each week, and the company is on pace for nearly $13 billion in 2025 revenue. "Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," OpenAI said in the filing. Musk said in March that X had acquired xAI in what amounts to a stock swap. OpenAI asked the court to force Musk to cease his public attacks on the company. "Musk's continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in the fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI's future, must cease," OpenAI said. "Musk should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action, and held responsible for the damage he has already caused."

OpenAI files countersuit against Elon Musk's 'bad faith' attacks

It accused the co-founder of seeking to control its technology for his personal benefit. OpenAI has filed a countersuit against Elon Musk, accusing him of staging press attacks and malicious campaigns on "the social media platform he controls," as well as of making "harassing legal claims" and a "sham bid for OpenAI's assets." In its filing, courtesy of TechCrunch, the ChatGPT-maker said Musk could not tolerate seeing such "success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed" and had made it his own project to take down the organization. It also said that Musk's efforts have ramped up in recent months after it announced its plans to restructure and become a for-profit entity with a non-profit division. Last year, Musk sued OpenAI, accusing it of ditching its nonprofit mission, becoming a "closed-source de facto subsidiary" Microsoft and of violating its foundational agreement to develop generative AI "for the benefit of humanity." But Musk, OpenAI said in its new lawsuit, is only pretending to represent the public and in truth is seeking to stop it from restructuring. Musk "advised that a similar reorganization was needed to salvage OpenAI's mission" years ago when he was still part of the company, it said. After Musk filed a lawsuit last year, OpenAI published old emails from when he was still involved in its operations. The organization said Musk was there when it first started talking about going for-profit and even wanted majority equity, control of the initial board of directors and the CEO position. It also published an email wherein Musk suggested merging OpenAI with Tesla so that the automaker could fund its work. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and eventually founded his own generative AI company, xAI. The AI company recently purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, for $33 billion. In a tweet, OpenAI said that Musk's actions are just "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI" and that he's spreading false information about the organization, as well as aiming to seize control of its technology for his personal benefit. In its lawsuit, it said that Musk "should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action" and should be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." OpenAI has to complete its reorganization by the end of this year or its private funding could be cut by as much as $10 billion. In response, Musk's legal team told Reuters that if OpenAI had taken a close look at his offer for the company, then it would know that the bid was serious and not a sham. "It's telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI's assets allegedly 'interferes' with their business plans," Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff told the news agency.

OpenAI files countersuit against Elon Musk to stop his disruptive actions and "sham" takeover bid

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? The long-running drama between OpenAI and Elon Musk took another turn today when the ChatGPT maker filed a countersuit against the world's richest person. OpenAI claims Musk has engaged in various actions to damage and disrupt the company, including public posts and a "sham" takeover bid. OpenAI's lawyers said in the new lawsuit that Musk should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action against the firm, and held responsible for the damage he has already caused. "Musk's actions have taken a toll. Should his campaign persist, greater harm is threatened - to OpenAI's ability to govern in service of its mission, to the relationships that are essential to furthering that mission, and to the public interest," states the countersuit filing. Musk sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in 2024 over claims that the pair breached their original contractual agreements by putting profit ahead of developing AI that benefits humanity. He ended the legal challenge in June without saying why. But Musk decided to launch another lawsuit against OpenAI in August, once again over allegations that the company and co-founders Altman and Greg Brockman had abandoned its founding mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity. OpenAI called Musk's lawsuits "incoherent" and "frivolous," denying that there was any kind of "founding agreement." Musk followed with yet another legal battle against OpenAI in November when he filed an injunction against the firm, several of its co-founders, and main investor Microsoft to prevent its transition to a for-profit entity. A federal judge denied the request in March but has allowed the case to go a jury trial in Spring 2026. Arguably Musk's most audacious act came in February when he led a group of investors in a $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI. Altman replied at the time with a jokey offer to "buy Twitter for $9.47 billion." OpenAI's board of directors unanimously rejected the offer. Musk was one of the co-founders, backers, and initial board members of OpenAI, departing the company in 2018 over what he said was a conflict of interest with Tesla. OpenAI has retaliated to Musk's actions in the past. After his first lawsuit, it published emails from his time at the company, showing how he supported the firm's plan to create a for-profit arm and encouraged it to raise at least $1 billion in funding. There was also a blog post it published in December titled "Elon Musk wanted an OpenAI for-profit," which shows a timeline of events leading up to the creation of Musk's rival AI company, xAI.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk claiming 'nonstop' actions

The BBC has asked Marc Toberoff, Elon Musk's lawyer, for a response to OpenAI's lawsuit. The countersuit opens up a new front in the high-stakes battle between two Silicon Valley heavyweights. "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit," OpenAI said in a statement on Wednesday. "Today, we countersued to stop him." Last week, a federal judge in Oakland, California, set a March 2026 trial date in Musk's suit in a bid to fast-track the legal fight. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers previously declined to grant Musk an injunction that would temporarily halt OpenAI's conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit company. She also said that she expects Musk to take the stand in the case. Musk alleges that OpenAI strayed from its founding mission as a nonprofit to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and is therefore in breach of contract. He left the company in 2018. OpenAI claims Musk has "been spreading false information about us," in a X post on Wednesday, adding "Elon's never been about the mission. He's always been about his own agenda." Musk's xAI is a competitor to OpenAI, but has so far lagged behind. Last month, xAI acquired Musk's social media platform X - formerly Twitter. Musk claims the combined company, XAI Holdings, is valued at more than $100 billion. In February, Musk made an unsolicited bid for OpenAI, offering to buy it for $97.4 billion, which Altman rejected by posting: "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk in bitter legal battle

Driving the news: OpenAI said in a filing that Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI" and that he "could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed." What they're saying: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit," OpenAI said in a post on X, adding that they're countersuing to "stop him." Flashback: Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015 but has since become a bitter opponent and critic of the ChatGPT maker. He's also the founder of xAI, an OpenAI rival. Catch up quick: Musk in August sued OpenAI and two of its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two months after withdrawing a similar suit.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk over 'unlawful harassment' of company

ChatGPT developer asks US federal judge to stop former founder making any further attacks The ChatGPT developer OpenAI has countersued Elon Musk, accusing the billionaire of harassment and asking a US federal judge to stop him from "any further unlawful and unfair action" against the company. OpenAI was co-founded by Musk and its chief executive, Sam Altman, in 2015. However, the two men have been at loggerheads for years over its direction as it transitions from a complex non-profit structure into a more traditional for-profit business. Musk sued OpenAI over its restructuring plans about a year ago, accusing it of betraying its foundational mission by putting the pursuit of profit ahead of the benefit of humanity. He dropped the suit in June, but then filed a fresh one in August. In February this year he led a consortium of investors in a surprise $97.4bn bid for the company. Altman quickly rejected the bid, writing on X: "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." Musk bought Twitter, since rebranded as X, in 2022 for $44bn. In documents filed at a district court in California this week, OpenAI said: "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI." The company asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as "be held responsible for the damage he has already caused". A jury trial is expected to begin in spring 2026. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and the world's richest man started his own company called xAI. The bid for OpenAI this year was backed by xAI and several investment firms, including one run by Jon Lonsdale, who co-founded the spy technology company Palantir. The Tesla boss has openly accused OpenAI of abandoning its original charitable mission by establishing a for-profit subsidiary to raise money from investors, such as Microsoft. OpenAI, which was founded as a non-profit with the aim of safely building futuristic AI that helped humanity, has argued the new model is necessary to develop the best AI models. Last month OpenAI raised $40bn in a funding round from SoftBank and other investors which valued the company at $300bn. The company has said it plans to use the money to "push the frontiers of AI research even further" and develop its computer infrastructure to deliver more powerful tools for the estimated 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week. OpenAI has had several corporate dramas since ChatGPT went viral in 2022. In 2023 the board sacked Altman over an alleged failure to be "candid in his communications". He was reinstated less than a week later after many at the company threatened to resign unless he returned to his role.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claims his $97.4 billion takeover offer was a 'sham bid'

OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman have counter-sued its co-founder turned competitor Elon Musk, accusing the billionaire of unfair and fraudulent business practices. Specifically, ChatGPT's owners claim that Musk's $97.375 billion offer to buy it out in February was a "sham bid" deliberately intended to impede OpenAI's efforts to raise funding. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls [X], a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," read the lawsuit. Filed to a California district court on Wednesday, OpenAI's countersuit alleges that Musk's offer to purchase the AI organisation for $97.375 billion was not genuine, and was in fact orchestrated to gain an unfair business advantage. Though Musk was one of OpenAI's founders, he has since left and founded competitor xAI. "Musk has engaged in these efforts to slow OpenAI's progress and impair its ability to compete effectively in an increasingly crowded field, but also to seize and maintain for xAI an unearned edge designed to impair competition more broadly for the sole benefit of Musk's xAI, at the expense of the public interest," alleges OpenAI. In support of its claims, OpenAI argues that there was no evidence of available funding to back Musk's proposed $97.375 billion purchase price, and that there appeared to be no basis for the number he'd landed upon "other than a comedic reference to Musk's favorite sci-fi series." As such, OpenAI alleges that Musk's actions were "intentionally... designed to disrupt [OpenAI's] economic relationships and did in fact disrupt those relationships," stating that its dealings with current and potential investors became "more costly and burdensome" due to Musk's public acquisition offer. It also noted that the "threat" of a Musk takeover had OpenAI employees considering the prospect of "chaos and arbitrary employment action," having seen his handling of Twitter (now X) after acquiring it in 2022. "Without limitation, the bid complicated the process for undertaking any corporate reorganization, and may ultimately raise [OpenAI's] cost of capital," the countersuit claimed. OpenAI is requesting damages, as well as a permanent injunction preventing Musk from further interfering with its business relationships. "[T]he risk of future, irreparable harm is acute, in light of [Musk's] years-long pattern of abusive conduct, involving, among other things... filing and withdrawing legal claims for purposes of harassing [OpenAI] and orchestrating a sham bid to purportedly acquire [OpenAI's] assets," read the filing. "Every phase of Musk's campaign has been designed to force OpenAI to divert resources, expend money, or both." Musk has made no secret of his objection to OpenAI's transition from a non-profit into a for-profit company, or its decision not to release its artificial general intelligence as open source. The billionaire initially sued OpenAI last March, claiming that the changes amounted to a breach of contract, and attempting to force the organisation back into a non-profit model. According to Musk, there had been a "Founding Agreement" that OpenAI's technology would be open source "for the benefit of humanity." In response, OpenAI alleged that no such founding agreement existed, producing emails which appeared to demonstrate that Musk was aware of its plans to become a for-profit organisation. Musk had reportedly even attempted to take ownership of OpenAI himself, offering to solve their funding issues in exchange for complete control. (They declined, and in 2018 Musk left the organisation.) The billionaire subsequently dropped his lawsuit without explanation in June, just one day before a judge was set to hear OpenAI's request for dismissal. Musk's beef wasn't over though, and in August he filed a new lawsuit his lawyer called "much more forceful." This time Musk claimed he was "manipulated" into co-founding OpenAI, though his arguments were otherwise rather similar to those in his previously dropped suit. "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit," OpenAI's official X account posted on Wednesday. "Elon's never been about the mission. He's always had his own agenda. He tried to seize control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla as a for-profit -- his own emails prove it. When he didn't get his way, he stormed off." Though OpenAI did state that Musk is "undoubtedly one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time," it also called his behaviour "just history on repeat -- Elon being all about Elon." Musk's response has been to resort to name-calling, posting, "Scam Altman is at it again." OpenAI didn't specify exactly which fictional series it suspected Musk was referencing with his $97.375 billion acquisition offer. However, it wouldn't be the first time Musk appeared to make business decisions based on joke numbers. The X owner previously fell afoul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2018 when he posted that he was "considering taking Tesla private at $420" and had "funding secured." This number is popularly associated with marijuana use, though Musk later claimed his post wasn't a joke when called to testify about it in court. Tesla currently remains a publicly traded company. It also wouldn't be the first time Musk has made an acquisition offer of questionable authenticity. In 2022 the billionaire infamously offered to purchase Twitter for significantly more than its value at the time. Musk then attempted to back out of the pretty awful business deal after Twitter accepted, but was eventually forced to go through with it after Twitter sued. The company's value subsequently plummeted under his leadership, falling by nearly 80 percent in just two years.

OpenAI countersues Musk as feud deepens

Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Elon Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a "relentless campaign" to damage the organization after it achieved success without him. In legal documents filed Wednesday in northern California's federal court, OpenAI alleges Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT. "Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," OpenAI said in the filing. The lawsuit is the latest round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world's richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission. In its countersuit, the company alleges Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk." Musk founded his own genAI startup, xAI, in 2023, and has invested tens of billions of dollars to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players. OpenAI was established in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab with the mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- the term used for human-level AI -- would "benefit all humanity." Musk was among its initial backers alongside CEO Sam Altman, giving a key investment to get the project up and running. According to the counterclaims, Musk's involvement was short-lived. The filing alleges that in 2018, Musk departed after OpenAI's leadership refused "to bow to Musk's demands for control of the enterprise or, alternatively, its absorption into Musk's electric car company, Tesla." OpenAI also contends that Musk never fulfilled his financial commitment to the organization, delivering "not even close" to a promised $1 billion. The company is now valued at $300 billion after its latest funding round of $40 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. OpenAI claims that Musk's assault has included press attacks and malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on X, the platform he owns, as well as "a sham bid for OpenAI's assets." The legal battle between Altman and Musk has intensified amid OpenAI's plans for a restructuring that would transform the company into a public benefit corporation while maintaining the nonprofit parent organization. OpenAI claims Musk is deliberately misrepresenting this move as a full conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status. The AI lab is seeking an injunction to halt Musk's "further unlawful and unfair action" and compensation for damages allegedly caused by his actions. OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.

Elon Musk's Credibility Sinking as He's Caught in Web of Lies

Little love has been lost between billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI. Musk co-founded the company in 2015 alongside current CEO Sam Altman, only to rage quit roughly three years later, citing disagreements with the group's direction. Since then, in a flurry of personal attacks and disparaging comments, the mercurial Musk has taken it out on the firm, accusing it of failing to uphold its open-source roots. Over the last couple of years, Musk has filed a series of lawsuits against OpenAI, accusing it of being a "closed-source de facto subsidiary" of investor Microsoft and failing to live up to its promise of developing a "safe" AI that "benefits all of humanity." This week, OpenAI countersued Musk, accusing him of a pattern of harassment, including "press attacks, malicious campaigns... a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets." OpenAI accused Musk of trying to become an "AGI dictator," including a scheme to buy OpenAI's nonprofit arm, a move the company claims was meant to scare off investors. Strikingly, OpenAI has the receipts. The wealth of incriminating documents included in the countersuit form what Electrek is calling Musk's "web of lies" surrounding his attempts to assume control over OpenAI is coming to light -- and raises the question of how much damage Musk's credibility can stand as his fibs and dubious timelines start to sound more like PT Barnum than Steve Jobs. Last year, OpenAI had already revealed that Musk had attempted to merge OpenAI with his EV maker Tesla, a plan that didn't sit well with the former's leadership. Perhaps most hypocritically, while Musk has repeatedly accused OpenAI of failing to live up to its promises of being open, he was the one suggesting OpenAI should move to a for-profit structure. According to a 2017 email revealed by OpenAI, Musk attempted to assume control over OpenAI by proposing to give himself preferred shares and a supermajority. In 2018, OpenAI eventually wound up accepting major investment from tech giant Microsoft to kick off its for-profit arm. Musk left soon after. Since then, Musk has launched his own competing AI company in July 2023, called xAI, in an apparent bid to rival OpenAI. He has also attempted to shift priorities at his carmaker toward AI development, ultimately threatening investors in January 2024 that he would develop AI products and robots elsewhere unless he was given a "25 percent voting control." Unfortunately for him, his ill-conceived and ill-executed $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022 left a giant hole in his pocket. Compounding these issues, a Delaware judge voided Musk's gargantuan $55 billion Tesla compensation package, calling it an "unfathomable sum" and arguing it was unfair to shareholders. In August, shareholders overwhelmingly approved the package -- a widely expected development, given their longstanding loyalty to the CEO -- only for the same Delaware judge to reject it once again. Last month, Musk announced that he had sold X-formerly-Twitter to his AI startup xAI, which is valued at $80 billion, in a baffling, 11th-hour attempt to rescue his ailing social media company that raised plenty of eyebrows. In other words, Musk was financially on the back foot, which could explain his flailing against OpenAI. Meanwhile, his smear campaign against OpenAI continues, culminating in a gigantic $97.4 billion bid to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI in February. The move was widely seen as a way to slow down OpenAI's transition to a for-profit entity. In its latest countersuit, OpenAI accused Musk of making up the almost $100 billion purchase price, pointing out the lack of "evidence of financing." In short, Musk's actions suggest he's been trying to strongarm himself into a position of power and influence in the AI industry at all costs -- actions that have hurt OpenAI, the company claims. The protracted legal battle raises a number of questions. Did Musk feel left out by OpenAI's meteoric rise to the world's leading AI firm? Did he launch xAI because he failed to take over the ChatGPT maker? Given the ample evidence, there are plenty of good reasons to believe that Musk's attempts to paint himself as the victim and OpenAI as the villain are riddled with holes and ulterior motives. How all of this will play out remains to be seen, especially with Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI now scheduled for a jury trial next spring -- but one thing's for sure: a factual assertion by Musk at this point is worth the tweet it's written on.

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk, Accuses Billionaire of 'Bad-Faith Tactics' - Decrypt

OpenAI says Elon Musk didn't just leave the company; he tried to take it over, and the AI research giant says it has the emails to prove it. In a newly filed countersuit, OpenAI accuses Tesla CEO Elon Musk of attempting a hostile takeover of the company he helped found, using what it called "bad-faith tactics" and a "self-serving narrative." OpenAI seeks to block Elon Musk's alleged campaign of harassment and disruption, centered on a sham $97 billion takeover bid, while seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at a possible trial, along with injunctive relief to prevent further interference. "These antics are just history on repeat -- Elon being all about Elon," OpenAI's official newsroom wrote in a scalding post on X as it shared internal emails showing Musk pushing to convert OpenAI into a for-profit entity. While Musk has consistently argued that OpenAI strayed from its original nonprofit mission, OpenAI alleges Musk himself was the first to push for a structural overhaul, so long as he was in charge. As shown in the emails, in November 2015, Musk began questioning OpenAI's structure in an email to CEO Sam Altman, writing that a "standard C corp with a parallel nonprofit" would likely align incentives better. Decrypt has yet to independently verify the emails put forth by OpenAI. Representatives for Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment. In June and July 2017, as OpenAI's need for compute scaled with its Dota 2 experiments, Musk allegedly encouraged expansion, writing, "Let's figure out the least expensive way to ensure compute power is not a constraint." And that summer, discussions shifted. On July 13, 2017, Musk allegedly agreed a for-profit model might be necessary. Days later, he warned that China's AI ambitions were another reason to "change course." OpenAI claims that in September 2017, Musk made his move, pushing for "initial control" over OpenAI's board in exchange for capital and demanding to be CEO. Emails from that month show him proposing a structure where he'd appoint four out of seven board seats. "I would unequivocally have initial control of the company," he allegedly wrote. OpenAI alleges Musk also directed his team to incorporate a for-profit shell company, Open Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Inc., with plans to rehouse OpenAI's IP under it. But OpenAI pushed back. In a candid message, co-founders warned that Musk's structure risked creating an "AGI dictatorship." They rejected the terms. Musk's response: "Discussions are over. I will no longer fund OpenAI." In January 2018, Musk allegedly proposed spinning OpenAI into Tesla, saying it was the only way to raise the billions needed. "OpenAI is on a path of certain failure relative to Google," he wrote. According to OpenAI, the team declined again, unwilling to become a Tesla subsidiary. By February 2018, Musk resigned as co-chair and parted ways with OpenAI. Years later, he has now returned, and this time through the courts. In March, Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI sought to block its transition to a capped-profit structure. A U.S. judge denied the injunction but agreed to an expedited trial, set for fall 2025. OpenAI had previously released Musk's emails earlier last year in response to the lawsuit, painting a picture of a founder who, despite his public stance, was already advocating for profit, exclusivity, and consolidation, years before filing suit. Amid the chaos, Musk has founded a rival AI startup, xAI, which last month merged with X in an all-stock deal valuing xAI at $80 billion. OpenAI, for its part, announced a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank, pushing its valuation to $300 billion. That's nearly four times the valuation tied to Musk's xAI startup. "We're getting ready to build the best-equipped nonprofit the world has ever seen," OpenAI said in its countersuit. "The idea that we abandoned the mission is false. Elon's own emails make that clear."

OpenAI countersues Musk as feud deepens

San Francisco (AFP) - Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Elon Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a "relentless campaign" to damage the organization after it achieved success without him. In legal documents filed Wednesday in northern California's federal court, OpenAI alleges Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT. "Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," OpenAI said in the filing. The lawsuit is the latest round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world's richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission. In its countersuit, the company alleges Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk." Musk founded his own genAI startup, xAI, in 2023, and has invested tens of billions of dollars to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players. OpenAI was established in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab with the mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- the term used for human-level AI -- would "benefit all humanity." Musk was among its initial backers alongside CEO Sam Altman, giving a key investment to get the project up and running. According to the counterclaims, Musk's involvement was short-lived. The filing alleges that in 2018, Musk departed after OpenAI's leadership refused "to bow to Musk's demands for control of the enterprise or, alternatively, its absorption into Musk's electric car company, Tesla." OpenAI also contends that Musk never fulfilled his financial commitment to the organization, delivering "not even close" to a promised $1 billion. The company is now valued at $300 billion after its latest funding round of $40 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup. OpenAI claims that Musk's assault has included press attacks and malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on X, the platform he owns, as well as "a sham bid for OpenAI's assets." The legal battle between Altman and Musk has intensified amid OpenAI's plans for a restructuring that would transform the company into a public benefit corporation while maintaining the nonprofit parent organization. OpenAI claims Musk is deliberately misrepresenting this move as a full conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status. The AI lab is seeking an injunction to halt Musk's "further unlawful and unfair action" and compensation for damages allegedly caused by his actions. OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk and the gloves come off: 'These antics are just history on repeat -- Elon being all about Elon'

OpenAI is countersuing Elon Musk, and claims the company's co-founder is engaged in "bad faith tactics" in order to gain control of its industry-leading AI technology. Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, his fellow co-founder, last year in an attempt to stop him changing the corporate structure from a non-profit to a for-profit company. OpenAI was co-founded by Musk and Altman in 2015. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and now alleges that the company has abandoned its founding mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, and is therefore in breach of contract. He first launched his suit in early 2024, before dropping it in June and re-filing in August last year. "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit," said OpenAI in a statement. "Today, we countersued to stop him." Then the gloves really come off. "Elon's never been about the mission," continues OpenAI's statement. "He's always had his own agenda. He tried to seize control of OpenAI and merge it with Tesla as a for-profit -- his own emails prove it. When he didn't get his way, he stormed off. "Elon is undoubtedly one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. But these antics are just history on repeat -- Elon being all about Elon." OpenAI also posted a timeline in December 2024 that it claims shows Musk "not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit as OpenAI's proposed new structure. When he didn't get majority equity and full control, he walked away and told us we would fail. Now that OpenAI is the leading AI research lab and Elon runs a competing AI company, he's asking the court to stop us from effectively pursuing our mission." Last week a California court set a March 2026 trial date for Musk's suit against OpenAI, but the courts have denied Musk's request for an injunction against Altman's plans. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers also said she expected Musk to give evidence in court. "This is about control. This is about revenue. It's basically about one person saying, 'I want control of that start-up'," Ari Lightman, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told the BBC, adding that all this talk of AI principles "takes a backseat with all this rigmarole over control and monetization." Musk's newer AI company, xAI Holdings, has the LLM Grok and last month acquired X (formerly Twitter) in an all-stock deal. The troll billionaire also offered to buy OpenAI outright for $97.4 billion, which Sam Altman publicly rejected by offering to buy X for a tenth of that amount. "Had OpenAI's Board genuinely considered the bid, as they were obligated to do, they would have seen just how serious it was," Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff told the BBC. "It's apparent they prefer to negotiate with themselves on both sides of the table than engage in a bona fide transaction in the best interests of the charity and the public." The sums involved here are truly hard to get your head around. Last month OpenAI raised $40 billion in a deal with Softbank that values the company overall at $300 billion. It says this will "pave the way" towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), the industry's holy grail of a model that can outperform humans at all tasks. You know what, screw it: what does Musk's LLM Grok think of all this? "I'm Grok from xAI," writes Musk's little chatbot. "This OpenAI-Musk clash is a messy one. It looks like Musk's worried OpenAI's for-profit shift betrays its original nonprofit vibe, especially with Microsoft in the mix. Fair point -- mission drift's a real thing. But OpenAI's got a case too: big AI needs big bucks, and their funding push makes sense. "Both sides are dug in, slinging lawsuits and accusations -- bad-faith tactics, control grabs, you name it. The evidence shows valid gripes on both ends, but this public brawl's a distraction. AI's supposed to help humanity, right? They'd do better teaming up than tearing each other down. Legal battles won't fix the future -- collaboration might." Both of these Silicon Valley gorillas say they're acting in the best interests of Open AI and, indeed, humanity itself. Yes, this is all a bit like an episode of The Good Wife. But it perhaps says everything that, for all the barbs being thrown from both sides, a chatbot is making more sense than two of the planet's richest entrepreneurs.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk in legal dispute over ChatGPT maker's business ambitions

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence startup a decade ago. The allegations against Musk were filed Wednesday in a federal court in California as a counterclaim to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year. Musk, an early OpenAI investor who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit research laboratory. A federal judge in March denied Musk's request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk's claims. She offered to hold a trial later this year, but it has been pushed back to March 2026.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk in legal dispute over ChatGPT maker's business ambitions

OAKLAND, Calif. -- OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence startup a decade ago. The allegations against Musk were filed Wednesday in a federal court in California as a counterclaim to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year. Musk, an early OpenAI investor who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit research laboratory. A federal judge in March denied Musk's request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk's claims. She offered to hold a trial later this year, but it has been pushed back to March 2026.

Musk and OpenAI Jury Trial to Begin in Spring Next Year

OAKLAND (Reuters) - - Billionaire Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI will go to a jury trial in spring 2026, the federal judge presiding over the case decided on Friday. Last month, OpenAI and Musk agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI's for-profit shift, the latest turn in a grudge match between the world's richest person and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman playing out publicly in court. The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, had denied Musk's request to pause the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model and instead proposed an expedited trial. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and subsequently founded the competing startup xAI in 2023. xAI last month acquired Musk's social media company X in a deal that values X at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. OpenAI is under pressure to transition quickly. The company is currently raising a funding round of up to $40 billion led by Japanese tech investment group SoftBank. SoftBank said it has agreed to fund OpenAI with $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December, contingent on the firm's transitioning to a for-profit by the end of the year. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." (Reporting by Anna Tong in Oakland, California; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Legal Battle Between Musk and OpenAI Heads to Trial in 2026

Last month, OpenAI and Musk agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI's for-profit shift, the latest turn in a grudge match between the world's richest person and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman playing out publicly in court. The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, had denied Musk's request to pause the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model and instead proposed an expedited trial. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and subsequently founded the competing startup xAI in 2023. xAI last month acquired Musk's social media company X in a deal that values X at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X.

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk in Legal Dispute Over ChatGPT Maker's Business Ambitions

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence startup a decade ago. The allegations against Musk were filed Wednesday in a federal court in California as a counterclaim to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year. Musk, an early OpenAI investor who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit research laboratory. A federal judge in March denied Musk's request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk's claims. She offered to hold a trial later this year, but it has been pushed back to March 2026. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk, Claims Harassment

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - OpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday, citing a pattern of harassment by Musk and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any "further unlawful and unfair action" against OpenAI in a court case over the future structure of the firm that helped launch the AI revolution. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Recently Musk, who went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, has tried to prevent the ChatGPT maker from transitioning to a for-profit model, culminating in the current court case. In order for OpenAI to secure the entire $40 billion of its current fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the company wrote in a filing in Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." The two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Musk's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, OpenAI said: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Musk's xAI last month acquired X in a deal that values the social media company at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Musk did not respond to a request for comment on the OpenAI filing. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; editing by Peter Henderson and Leslie Adler)

Musk-Altman Fight Over OpenAI Overhaul Set for March Trial

The Altman-Musk trial will begin is scheduled to begin in less than year A federal judge set a March trial in Elon Musk's challenge to Sam Altman's plans to overhaul OpenAI's business structure, setting the stage for a high-stakes clash between the two billionaires. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put the trial on her calendar for March 16 during a hearing Friday after previously pledging to fast-track it rather than let it linger until 2027. Gonzalez Rogers last month rejected Musk's request to temporarily pause the ChatGPT maker's transformation from a nonprofit to a more conventional, public benefit for-profit company. But she called for an expedited trial on the "core" claim from Musk's 2024 lawsuit that OpenAI's restructuring plan is unlawful. Having a firm trial date could impact decisions made by OpenAI's board on choosing a strategy to shift to a for-profit business model. It's also possible that the trial will begin after OpenAI has completed this shift: The startup is already in talks with officials in Delaware and California over its restructuring plans, and the size of its latest funding round is partly dependent on completing its restructuring process by the end of 2025. Musk and Altman worked together to found OpenAI in 2015. Musk now claims that OpenAI retreated from its founding purpose as a charity when it accepted billions of dollars in backing from Microsoft Corp. starting in 2019, the year after he left OpenAI's board. The world's richest person launched his own artificial intelligence startup in 2023, and in late March xAI acquired the X social media platform, which he also controls, giving the new combined entity, called XAI Holdings, a value of more than $100 billion (roughly Rs. 8,55,000 crore), Bloomberg News reported. OpenAI has denied Musk's legal claims and has argued that his real agenda in the court fight is to advance xAI. It has asked the judge to dismiss Musk's suit as a bid to "undermine a successful competitor" after he was "unable to seize control" of OpenAI. OpenAI said earlier this week that it finalized a $40 billion (roughly Rs. 3,42,000 crore) funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp. The deal values the company at $300 billion (roughly Rs. 25,65,000 crore) including dollars raised -- almost double the ChatGPT maker's previous valuation of $157 billion (roughly Rs. 13,42,350 crore) from when it raised money in October. If OpenAI doesn't complete its restructuring by the end of 2025, however, SoftBank would be able to reduce the amount of funding it's contributing to the round from $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,56,500 crore) to $20 billion (roughly Rs. 1,71,000 crore), as Bloomberg has reported, while OpenAI would have the option to find other investors.

Elon Musk vs OpenAI: The legal feud explained as ChatGPT maker countersues world's richest person

Elon Musk has been countersued by OpenAI as the company cited a pattern of harassment by the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. On Wednesday, it asked a federal judge to bar him from "further unlawful and unfair action" against it in the ongoing court case over the firm's future structure, which played the pivotal role in launching the AI revolution. Amid the bitter feud between the world's richest person and the AI start-up, OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from attacking the firm and even held him responsible for the "damage he has already caused," Reuters reported. Musk, senior advisor to US President Donald Trump, co-founded OpenAI along with Sam Altman as a non-profit in 2015. However, he left the startup soon amid the battle to control the firm, The New York Times reported. Subsequently, Musk introduced his own competing startup xAI in 2023. Post his departure, OpenAI went on to release ChatGPT and emerged itself as a leading firm having several millions of users around the world. In August last year, Musk filed a lawsuit against the company as well as Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. He accused them of shifting away from its founding mission to develop AI for public good and rather putting their commercial interests ahead. This happened after the company started working on a plan to shift its control from non-profit to OpenAI's investors -- a move that Musk claims breaches its founding contract, according to The New York Times. In recent times, Musk made efforts to prevent OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit model, with the matter culminating in a court case. The company is required to complete its transition by 2025-end to bag the $40 billion of the current fundraising round, as per CNN. Also Read : Rock album cover designer Ioannis Vasilopoulos, who worked with Bon Jovi, dies at 66 In a filing in Musk's ongoing lawsuit against the company in US District Court for the Northern District of California, OpenAI claimed that Musk has tried "every tool available" to harm the company by attacking it through press, malicious campaigns and "pretextual demand for corporate records". Earlier this year, Musk, along with a consortium of investors, made an offer to purchase assets in the non-profit that takes control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion. However, the same was rejected by the OpenAI's board of directors. Declining the unsolicited takeover bid with a "no thank you," Sam Altman asserted that the company was not for sale. In a series of posts on X, which is owned by Musk, OpenAI said that his "non-stop actions" against the company are "just bad-faith tactics" to slow it down and take control of the leading AI innovations for his "personal benefit." It further claimed that Musk was "spreading false information about us." Also Read : TV presenter Adam Richman sparks concern with cryptic social media post In March this year, both the parties had agreed to fast-track a trial over the startup's for-profit shift. This came after they jointly proposed a trial in December 2024. Last month, the judge had also denied a request from Musk to pause OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model. 1. When will the jury trial start in the case? Elon Musk and OpenAI will begin a jury trial in 2026 spring of 2026. 2. What has Elon Musk said about OpenAI countersuing him? Musk is yet to make an official statement on the matter.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claims harassment

OpenAI has countersued Elon Musk, accusing him of harassment and bad-faith attempts to disrupt its transition to a for-profit model. The legal battle stems from Musk's claims that OpenAI abandoned its founding mission. A jury trial is set for next year, with tensions escalating between the former cofounders of the AI companyOpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday, citing a pattern of harassment by Musk and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any "further unlawful and unfair action" against OpenAI in a court case over the future structure of the firm that helped launch the AI revolution. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Recently Musk, who went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, has tried to prevent the ChatGPT maker from transitioning to a for-profit model, culminating in the current court case. In order for OpenAI to secure the entire $40 billion of its current fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the company wrote in a filing in Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." The two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Musk's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, OpenAI said: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Musk's xAI last month acquired X in a deal that values the social media company at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Musk did not respond to a request for comment on the OpenAI filing. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you."

Musk Wants To 'Harm' OpenAI Because He Can't Stand Its Success Without Him: Lawsuit

"Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," read a suit by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Sam Altman filed a countersuit against his OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk on Wednesday, claiming the Tesla CEO "tried every tool available to harm" the artificial intelligence company when it succeeded following his departure. Altman's countersuit stems from a federal lawsuit filed by Musk last year that accuses Altman of diverging from OpenAI's original nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft and keeping its advanced tech for private consumers. The artificial intelligence company said in a post on X (which Musk owns) that it countersued Musk to end his "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Attorneys representing Musk in this case did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for a comment. Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, along with Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskeveralong, as a nonprofit lab. Musk abandoned the company three years later, after the rest of the board "refused to bow to Musk's demands for control of the enterprise," according to Altman's counterclaim. When Musk quit, he declared OpenAI would fail without him, the countersuit said. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, an achievement Altman's suit says "Musk had nothing to do with." As the company continued to grow, Musk was left on the "sidelines" and launched a "relentless" campaign against OpenAI, the suit claims. "Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," Altman's countersuit read. "He made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk." Musk did everything he could to harm the company they co-founded, the countersuit claims. Founded as a nonprofit, OpenAI now operates as a partnership between its original nonprofit and a capped profit subsidiary that raises "the capital for our mission," according to the company's website. Musk's attacks have intensified in recent months, according to the countersuit, after OpenAI announced potential plans to turn the "existing for-profit entity under the nonprofit OpenAI, Inc" into a public benefit corporation. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the countersuit read. In one example, Altman's lawsuit alleged that Musk has "falsely and repeatedly claimed" that OpenAI was restructuring the entire company from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity.

Group of ex-OpenAI employees back Musk's lawsuit to halt OpenAI restructure

Corporate leaders want to give investors control, drawing a host of concerns and a lawsuit from Musk and others who say business interests must be subordinated to humanitarian goals.A dozen former OpenAI employees filed a legal brief on Friday backing co-founder Elon Musk's lawsuit aimed at keeping the non-profit status of OpenAI, marking the latest development in the dispute over the future of the artificial intelligence firm. Corporate leaders want to give investors control, drawing a host of concerns and a lawsuit from Musk and others who say business interests must be subordinated to humanitarian goals. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations. In their federal court filing on Friday, the former employees contended that stripping the nonprofit of its controlling role would "fundamentally violate" its mission, as it would lose oversight of the for-profit AI development entity. The former OpenAI employees, who said they held technical and leadership roles in the company, said the nonprofit's oversight was crucial to its overall strategy, and that while they worked at the firm, OpenAI executives had emphasized repeatedly the structure's importance in OpenAI's ability to execute on its mission. The structure also helped with recruitment, and many employees joined because they were inspired by the nonprofit's mission, they said. OpenAI has argued that it needs to remove the nonprofit's controlling role in order to raise funds from investors. The nonprofit will retain a stake in OpenAI that will become increasingly valuable as the company grows, enriching the nonprofit with deep resources to carry out its mission, the company argues. In a statement, OpenAI said the transition would not affect its mission: "Our Board has been very clear: our nonprofit isn't going anywhere and our mission will remain the same." Musk and Altman cofounded ChatGPT maker OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Musk's opposition to the change in structure led to the current suit, and the two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Recently Musk also went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, and Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. OpenAI, meanwhile, faces pressure from investors to change its structure. In order for OpenAI to secure a $40 billion fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year.

Elon Musk Sued By Sam Altman-Led OpenAI Over 'Harassing' Tactics: ChatGPT Maker Alleges Tesla CEO 'Tried Every Tool' Available To Cause Harm - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF)

On Wednesday, OpenAI countersued Elon Musk, accusing him of using harassment tactics to slow the company's progress and disrupt its plans for growth, including a contentious bid for control. What Happened: In the lawsuit, OpenAI alleges that Musk's tactics include press attacks, legal harassment, and an unsolicited bid for the company's assets. The filing states, "Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," and asks the court to stop him from taking further "unlawful" actions, reported Reuters. The dispute centers on OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model, which is crucial for its current $40 billion fundraising round. OpenAI aims to complete this transition by the end of the year, but Musk has attempted to block it. See Also: OpenAI's Sam Altman Looks To Raise Funds From Abu Dhabi's MGX Amid Increased Competition: Report In a post on X, OpenAI added that Musk's actions were "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: OpenAI was co-founded in 2015 by 11 people, including Musk and current CEO Sam Altman. However, Musk parted ways with the company in 2018, prior to its rise as a major tech player following the release of ChatGPT. In 2023, Musk founded his separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, and has since opposed OpenAI's shift toward a for-profit structure. Earlier this year, OpenAI's board rejected a $97 billion acquisition proposal from Musk, which was seen as an attempt to slow down a competitor. Meanwhile, OpenAI has also finalized a historic $40 billion funding round, elevating its valuation to $300 billion. This funding is backed by major players like Microsoft Corp. MSFT and SoftBank Group SFTBF SFTBY. Image via Shutterstock Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: DeepSeek Impact Makes OpenAI Rethink Open Source -- Sam Altman Hints At Major Changes In Model Development Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. MSFTMicrosoft Corp$391.1010.3%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum40.79Growth64.76Quality38.02Value14.44Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewSFTBFSoftBank Group Corp$48.666.83%SFTBYSoftBank Group Corp$20.93-0.40%Got Questions? AskWhich AI companies will thrive amidst this lawsuit?How will OpenAI's funding attract more investors?What impact will this have on Microsoft's stake in OpenAI?Could xAI benefit from OpenAI's challenges?Which tech stocks might be undervalued due to this dispute?How could this lawsuit affect investor confidence in AI firms?What potential risks does this pose for SoftBank investments?Will this alter the competitive landscape in AI?How might this affect venture capital in AI startups?Which legal tech firms could profit from this case?Powered ByMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk, Calls It a "Campaign of Harassment"

The trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026. On Wednesday, OpenAI filed a counterclaim against Elon Musk's lawsuit in the Northern District of California. OpenAI argues that Musk has "set in motion a campaign of harassment, interference, and misinformation designed to take down OpenAI and clear the field for himself." On X, OpenAI stated, "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit. Today, we counter-sued to stop him." In the lawsuit, OpenAI has argued: Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed. He made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk. In case you are unaware, Elon Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, but he left after failing to become the CEO and take control of the company. Since then, Musk has repeatedly tried to poach OpenAI employees and put a roadblock on the company's future. In February 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging that the company breached its founding principles and prioritized profits over AI safety. However, in June, Musk dropped the lawsuit voluntarily. In August, though, Musk revived his lawsuit against OpenAI, arguing that Musk was "manipulated" into co-founding OpenAI. Musk claims that he chose to invest in OpenAI because it was a "non-profit" company, but OpenAI is now chasing profits along with Microsoft. However, in December, OpenAI shared a blog post revealing that Musk himself wanted a "for-profit" company. OpenAI's counterclaim is a response to this lawsuit. The trial is set to begin in the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, in February 2025, Elon Musk made an unsolicited offer of $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, but OpenAI's board rejected the bid unanimously and said the company is not for sale.

Ex-OpenAI Staffers Support Elon Musk's Legal Battle Against Sam Altman-Led AI Startup's For-Profit Shift

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Amid the ongoing legal tussle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman-led OpenAI, a group of former OpenAI employees has stepped forward to support Musk in his fight against the company's transition to a for-profit model. What Happened: A group of 12 former OpenAI employees has thrown their support behind Musk in his legal battle against the AI startup's shift to a for-profit model, CNBC reported on Friday. These ex-staffers, who were part of OpenAI from 2018 to 2024, have requested a California district court to allow them to express their concerns about the company's transformation. The filing was made by Lawrence Lessig, representing the group, to bolster Musk's case. In a post on his social media platform X, Musk acknowledged the amicus brief filed by former OpenAI staffers. The request aims to support Musk's efforts to prevent OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, from becoming a for-profit entity. The filing claims that such a change would violate the organization's mission. See Also: 'We Just Have To Hope We Have Enough Time To Recover': Retirees Reeling After Market Drops Hit Their Nest Eggs OpenAI has commercialized products like ChatGPT and is overseen by a nonprofit parent. The company has faced challenges in restructuring due to Musk's opposition, who recently offered $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, an offer that was rejected. OpenAI's hybrid structure includes a capped-profit limited partnership, with the original nonprofit as the controlling shareholder. The filing argues that the shift to a for-profit model breaches the trust of employees and stakeholders. The case has seen various developments, including a federal court blocking Musk's attempt to stop the transition and OpenAI filing a countersuit against Musk earlier this week. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: The legal battle between Musk and OpenAI has been escalating. In March 2025, Musk opposed OpenAI's move to a for-profit model, arguing it could impact the control of AI technology. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, aims to separate the revenue-generating business from its nonprofit parent to attract investments and provide returns to shareholders. Earlier, in February 2025, Musk's $97.4 billion takeover bid was reportedly not received by OpenAI's board, which Altman described as "another one of his tactics." OpenAI, in its countersuit, accused Musk of using harassment tactics to disrupt its growth plans, including his unsolicited bid for control. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Targets Record-Breaking $2 Billion Seed Round For New AI Startup Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Got Questions? AskHow will OpenAI's for-profit shift affect investors?Which AI startups could benefit from Musk's legal battle?What impact might this have on tech stocks?Could Musk's actions influence AI regulation in the industry?Who stands to gain from OpenAI's restructuring?How will venture capital react to these developments?What opportunities arise in AI ethics investments?Which companies might be at risk from this transition?How could this legal fight reshape AI partnerships?What potential exits are there for OpenAI investors?Powered ByMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI Seeks Injunction Against Elon Musk, Citing Efforts To Undermine Company Strategy

OpenAI has filed a counterclaim seeking a broad injunction against Elon Musk's "tortious interference" with its business. | Credit: Michael Kovac / Getty Images. Responding to Elon Musk's lawsuit, OpenAI has filed a counterclaim seeking a permanent injunction barring further "interference" with the organization. If granted, such an injunction would dash Musk's hopes of stalling OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit corporation and put an end to tactics like his $97 billion takeover bid. The document offers a different account of OpenAI's formative years to the one presented by Musk, who described his split from the company as amicable and not commercially motivated. In contrast, the recent countercomplaint claims that OpenAI's other founders refused to let the company be absorbed by Tesla, "so Musk quit, declaring that OpenAI would fail without him." When OpenAI later released ChatGPT, "Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed," the document states. Musk Allegedly Motivated by ChatGPT Success In the months and years that followed the release of ChatGPT, Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead," the recent filing claims, referring to xAI's Grok. Citing Musk's X posts, "harassing legal claims" and his "sham" bid for OpenAI's assets, the complaint describes the ensuing campaign as "relentless" and "malicious." Alongside financial compensation, the suit calls for "a preliminary and permanent injunction of any further interference with Counterclaim Plaintiffs' economic relationships." Seeking a Broad Injunction OpenAI's lawyers point out that Musk's various requests for injunctions against the AI developer have been repeatedly denied. Given this, they argue that his continued litigatory assault amounts to a form of legal harassment. The broad injunction OpenAI is seeking would presumably derail Musk's original lawsuit and prevent him from staging further attacks both in and outside the courtroom. Such an order is warranted "because there is no adequate remedy at law for Counterclaim Defendants' tortious interference and the risk of future, irreparable harm is acute," OpenAI argues.

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk accusing him of harassment By Investing.com

Investing.com-- OpenAI has filed a countersuit against Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk accusing him of harassment, and sought a federal court injunction to prevent further disruptive actions. The legal dispute centers on OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model, a move the company deems essential for securing $40 billion in funding. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but departed before its rise, later established the rival AI firm xAI in 2023 and has since opposed OpenAI's direction, alleging it deviates from its mission to develop AI for public benefit. OpenAI's filing alleges Musk has engaged in social media attacks, frivolous legal actions, and an unsuccessful takeover attempt to damage its reputation and gain control. "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit. Today, we counter-sued to stop him," OpenAI said in a post on social media X.

Musk and OpenAI jury trial to begin in spring next year

OAKLAND (Reuters) - - Billionaire Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI will go to a jury trial in spring 2026, the federal judge presiding over the case decided on Friday. Last month, OpenAI and Musk agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI's for-profit shift, the latest turn in a grudge match between the world's richest person and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman playing out publicly in court. The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, had denied Musk's request to pause the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model and instead proposed an expedited trial. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and subsequently founded the competing startup xAI in 2023. xAI last month acquired Musk's social media company X in a deal that values X at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. OpenAI is under pressure to transition quickly. The company is currently raising a funding round of up to $40 billion led by Japanese tech investment group SoftBank. SoftBank said it has agreed to fund OpenAI with $10 billion in mid-April and an additional $30 billion in December, contingent on the firm's transitioning to a for-profit by the end of the year. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." (Reporting by Anna Tong in Oakland, California; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Group of ex-OpenAI employees back Musk's lawsuit to halt OpenAI restructure

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A dozen former OpenAI employees filed a legal brief on Friday backing co-founder Elon Musk's lawsuit aimed at keeping the non-profit status of OpenAI, marking the latest development in the dispute over the future of the artificial intelligence firm. Corporate leaders want to give investors control, drawing a host of concerns and a lawsuit from Musk and others who say business interests must be subordinated to humanitarian goals. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission - to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations. In their federal court filing on Friday, the former employees contended that stripping the nonprofit of its controlling role would "fundamentally violate" its mission, as it would lose oversight of the for-profit AI development entity. The former OpenAI employees, who said they held technical and leadership roles in the company, said the nonprofit's oversight was crucial to its overall strategy, and that while they worked at the firm, OpenAI executives had emphasized repeatedly the structure's importance in OpenAI's ability to execute on its mission. The structure also helped with recruitment, and many employees joined because they were inspired by the nonprofit's mission, they said. OpenAI has argued that it needs to remove the nonprofit's controlling role in order to raise funds from investors. The nonprofit will retain a stake in OpenAI that will become increasingly valuable as the company grows, enriching the nonprofit with deep resources to carry out its mission, the company argues. In a statement, OpenAI said the transition would not affect its mission: "Our Board has been very clear: our nonprofit isn't going anywhere and our mission will remain the same." Musk and Altman cofounded ChatGPT maker OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Musk's opposition to the change in structure led to the current suit, and the two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Recently Musk also went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, and Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. OpenAI, meanwhile, faces pressure from investors to change its structure. In order for OpenAI to secure a $40 billion fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; editing by Diane Craft)

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claims harassment

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - OpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday, citing a pattern of harassment by Musk and asking a federal judge to stop Musk from any "further unlawful and unfair action" against OpenAI in a court case over the future structure of the firm that helped launch the AI revolution. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left before the company became a technology star. Recently Musk, who went on to create his own AI firm, xAI, in 2023, has tried to prevent the ChatGPT maker from transitioning to a for-profit model, culminating in the current court case. In order for OpenAI to secure the entire $40 billion of its current fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year. "Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI," the company wrote in a filing in Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." The two parties are set to begin a jury trial in spring next year. Musk's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X, the social media platform which Musk owns, OpenAI said: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit." Musk's xAI last month acquired X in a deal that values the social media company at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with co-investors in X. Last year, Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission -- to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Musk did not respond to a request for comment on the OpenAI filing. OpenAI and Altman have denied the allegations, while Altman alleges that Musk has been trying to slow down a competitor. At stake in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker's transition to a for-profit model, which the startup says is crucial to raising more capital and competing well in the expensive AI race. Altman, who has said OpenAI is not for sale, rejected a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium with a "no thank you." (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; editing by Peter Henderson and Leslie Adler)

Elon Musk vs Sam Altman: AI breakup that refuses to end

It's Silicon Valley's most prolonged breakup, this continuing saga of Sam Altman and Elon Musk, co-founders turned courtroom combatants -- over not just OpenAI but the future of AI itself. The kind where one side moves on, launches a new company, builds a massive global brand, gets the world talking -- and the other keeps showing up uninvited at the party, refusing to get over and move forward. This week, OpenAI filed a countersuit against Musk, asking the court to formally hit pause on what it described as a campaign of "unlawful and unfair action." Sam Altman is basically saying here that enough is enough to Elon Musk. Also read: OpenAI says Elon Musk is harassing them, asks court to stop him The lawsuit, filed in California, claims Elon Musk's recent moves -- including a dramatic $97.4 billion "takeover bid" in February 2025 to acquire OpenAI's nonprofit arm -- weren't just stunts. They were calculated disruptions. The company even called the bid "fake," designed to interfere with OpenAI's future plans. If the original lawsuit Musk filed in 2024 was about "mission drift," this countersuit is about harassment. "Musk's continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in the fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI's future, must cease," the countersuit reads. This is where we're at. Where Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the same two men who once built OpenAI together with a dream to make artificial intelligence safe for all of humanity, are now battling over whether that mission has lost its way -- or whether one of them just can't let go. Let's rewind for a second, and understand how it all went wrong for Elon Musk with respect to OpenAI, and how the relationship between him and Sam Altman further deteriorated over the past few years. Back in 2015, Sam Altman and Elon Musk were part of the founding dream team of OpenAI -- a nonprofit set up with the noble (and very Muskian) mission to keep AI beneficial to humanity. Not necessarily profitable. Just safe, fair, and accessible. But in 2018, Elon Musk stepped down from the OpenAI board. On paper, it was to avoid a conflict of interest with Tesla's own AI developments. Behind the scenes, there were disagreements -- over OpenAI's long term direction, over leadership, and (according to various reports) over OpenAI's control. Since then, their relationship has gone from quietly tense to publicly toxic. In 2023, Elon Musk launched xAI to build Grok, a ChatGPT rival that's part AI assistant, part Twitter troll. By early 2024, he'd accused OpenAI of selling out -- saying it had gone from nonprofit to profit-first, losing its moral compass. He filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, later withdrawing it. Then refiled it, adding Microsoft for good measure. In January 2025, Altman appeared alongside President Donald Trump to unveil the Stargate initiative -- a mind-bending $500 billion project to build AI data centers. The next day, Elon Musk called Sam Altman a "swindler" and "liar." Because of course he did. At the heart of Elon Musk's grievance is his strong belief that OpenAI has strayed from its founding mission. What started as a nonprofit has now morphed into a capped-profit model, with plans to shift into a public benefit corporation -- meaning it's still mission-oriented, but with revenue goals attached. Also read: Stargate to OpenAI: Why Elon Musk and Sam Altman are still fighting OpenAI doesn't see this as betrayal from its core mission -- it sees it as necessary evolution. After all, training models like GPT-4 or its upcoming successors isn't a weekend side project. It takes massive compute, elite talent, and yes, funding. A lot of money is the basic fuel driving the engine of cutting-edge AI evolution, whether you or Elon Musk likes it or not. For Altman, OpenAI's "nonprofit wrapper with a for-profit engine" may seem like a compromise, but it's one he believes is essential for competing with Big Tech while staying true to the mission. Musk, on the other hand, appears to believe that anything short of open-sourcing everything and handing it back to the community is a betrayal. But here's the paradox. The man who claims OpenAI is no longer open also runs a competing AI company -- one that isn't open source either. And while Grok, the edgy sibling of ChatGPT, is free for all X users, it does have a paid version with X Premium which offers more features. Elon Musk's moral crusade is also a business play, at the end of the day. This week's countersuit makes it clear that OpenAI has had enough. It accuses Musk of a campaign that's less about accountability and more about disruption. The courts, of course, will now have to untangle all the mess, as the jury trial is set for early 2026, which in tech years is basically a whole new generation of AI models away. By then, GPT-6 might be in preview mode, as Elon Musk takes his own giant strides on the AI front. Maybe it's time both men bury the hatchet and let this one go. Sam Altman has OpenAI to run. He's leading arguably the most influential AI company on the planet, working on models that will shape education, creativity, communication, and perhaps a lot more. Elon Musk has his hands full too -- there's SpaceX, Tesla, xAI, Neuralink, and a rapidly evolving platform in X that seems determined to merge memes and machine learning into the future of social news. But maybe, just maybe, the energy spent fighting each other could be better used actually building the futures they are so invested in. Because, the world's got enough problems without two of its smartest minds wasting time in a digital shouting match over who said what in 2015.

OpenAI says Elon Musk is harassing them, asks court to stop him

They also want him to be held responsible for the damage he's already caused to the defendants. The legal battle between OpenAI and Elon Musk is heating up, with OpenAI filing a countersuit against the billionaire entrepreneur, citing a pattern of harassment. In a court filing on Wednesday, OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, along with other defendants, asked the court to stop Musk from taking any more "unlawful and unfair action." They also want him to be held responsible for the damage he's already caused to the defendants. "OpenAI is resilient," the countersuit reads. "But Musk's actions have taken a toll. Should his campaign persist, greater harm is threatened -- to OpenAI's ability to govern in service of its mission, to the relationships that are essential to furthering that mission, and to the public interest [...] Musk's continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in the fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI's future, must cease." For those unaware, Musk sued OpenAI claiming the company abandoned its original nonprofit mission. OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit organisation. However, in 2019, the company adopted a "capped-profit" model and now plans to shift to a public benefit corporation. Musk tried to stop this change with a court order, but a judge denied his request in March. Still, the case is set to go to a jury trial in spring 2026. There's a lot at stake for OpenAI, as reports suggest it must complete its transition to a for-profit structure by 2025 or risk losing some of the funding it has received. Also read: Elon Musk accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of stifling competition in AI industry Meanwhile, groups like the California Teamsters and other nonprofit organisations have asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to step in and block OpenAI's corporate conversion. They argue that OpenAI "failed to protect its charitable assets" and is actively "subverting its charitable mission to advance safe artificial intelligence." OpenAI has defended its plans, saying the move would strengthen its nonprofit arm. "We're actually getting ready to build the best-equipped nonprofit the world has ever seen -- we're not converting it away," the company posted on X. In a statement to TechCrunch, Marc Toberoff, an attorney for Musk, said: "Had OpenAI's board genuinely considered [Elon Musk's bid for OpenAI's nonprofit earlier this year] as they were obligated to do, they would have seen how serious it was. It's telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI's assets allegedly 'interferes' with their business plans."