Elon Musk's War on OpenAI Is Heading to a Jury (And Getting Very Personal)

A federal judge just ruled that Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft will proceed to a jury trial this spring, and what's emerged from the legal discovery process has been nothing short of explosive.

Thousands of pages of unsealed evidence have spilled into public view, including depositions from nearly every major figure in OpenAI's history: Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Mira Murati, and even Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The documents reveal internal tensions, strategic maneuvering, and personal ambitions that date back to the company's earliest days.

But perhaps more remarkable than the evidence is what's happened since it was released: an all-out public war between Musk, Altman, and Brockman that is playing out in real time on social media.

To understand why this case matters far beyond the courtroom, I talked it through with SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute founder and CEO Paul Roetzer on Episode 191 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.

A Lawsuit Like No Other

The legal battle centers on Musk's allegation that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission when it took billions from Microsoft and began its transition to a for-profit structure. Musk, who helped launch OpenAI in 2015 and contributed $38 million in seed funding, claims he was defrauded.

His legal team is now seeking between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages, based on OpenAI's reported $500 billion valuation. OpenAI and Microsoft have dismissed the demand as "unserious" and part of what they call an ongoing "pattern of harassment."

But the numbers aren't the story here. The chaos is.

"This is oddly public," says Roetzer. "I can't remember a case that's going to trial where the defendants are this public about all this information."

Brockman's Diary Goes Viral

The turning point came when thousands of pages of evidence were unsealed, and the internet started digging. Among the most provocative discoveries: excerpts from Greg Brockman's personal journal, dating back to 2017, in which he documented his private thoughts about OpenAI's structure, Musk's involvement, and his own financial motivations.

One entry reads: "Financially, what will take me to $1 billion?"

Musk seized on the journal entries, retweeting a pro-Musk account that shared screenshots with the comment: "They openly discuss their conspiracy to commit fraud and steal the charity."

Altman fired back on X, calling Musk's characterization a cherry-picked distortion. "Elon is cherry picking things to make Greg look bad," Altman wrote. "But the full story is that Elon was pushing for a new structure and Greg and Ilya spent a lot of time trying to figure out if they could meet his demands."

Altman added context that hadn't been publicly discussed before: Musk allegedly told OpenAI's founders he wanted to accumulate $80 billion through the company for a self-sustaining city on Mars, demanded majority equity and full control, and even discussed having his children control AGI in the event of succession.

Brockman then posted his own response, writing: "I have great respect for Elon, but the way he cherry picked from my personal journal is beyond dishonest."

OpenAI Goes on Offense

OpenAI didn't just respond on social media. The company published a detailed rebuttal on its website titled "The Truth Elon Left Out."

The post argues that Musk and OpenAI's founders agreed in 2017 that a for-profit structure would be necessary to raise sufficient capital, and that negotiations fell apart only when Musk demanded absolute control. OpenAI claims Musk even proposed merging the company into Tesla, which they rejected.

Alex Heath of sources.news shares a letter on X that he says OpenAI sent to investors, which called Musk's lawsuit "baseless and without merit" and warned his legal team would likely make "deliberately outlandish attention-grabbing claims aimed solely at generating headlines."

"I'm not an attorney, but this seems really unusual," Roetzer says.

What Does Musk Really Want?

If the case goes to trial, and all signs suggest it will start on April 27 in Northern California, the proceedings could become one of the most high-profile legal battles in tech history. The potential witness list reads like an AI industry Who's Who: Dario Amodei of Anthropic, former OpenAI executives Ilya Sutskever and Mira Murati, past board members Helen Toner, and Microsoft leadership, including Satya Nadella.

What’s so interesting is that Musk doesn't need the money from a court victory.

"He's worth a trillion, basically,’’ Roetzer says. “Nothing he would get from OpenAI is going to change his lifestyle at all."

So what's the real motivation? Roetzer suspects it’s strategic and competitive. 

"This absolutely just seems like, “Let's just create the most chaos possible,’" Roetzer says. "Let's slow him down. Let's use it as an advantage for xAI and let's just make their lives miserable because I can, and I've got the money to do it."

Why This Matters

This lawsuit arrives at a critical moment for OpenAI. The company is in the middle of a complex restructuring, attempting to finalize its transition to a for-profit model while preserving a controlling nonprofit entity now valued at approximately $130 billion. It's also actively raising capital from investors who are surely paying attention to the headlines.

The legal uncertainty, combined with the very public nature of the dispute, creates real risk for OpenAI, even if the underlying claims are dismissed.

And the drama itself is a reminder of just how personal the AI race has become.

"I don't even think a movie about the last eight years of AI would be sufficient," says Roetzer. "This has to be an ongoing series because every episode could be something crazy."