Billionaire Elon Musk’s lawsuit against ChatGPT developer OpenAI will be heard by a jury in the spring of 2026, according to a ruling by the federal judge presiding over the case.
Image source: @elonmusk / X
Last month, Musk sought a preliminary injunction to prevent OpenAI from being restructured as a nonprofit, making it easier to raise new funding for growth. However, Oakland District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Musk’s request but did move to expedite the trial.
Recall that in 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, as did the current head of the company, Sam Altman. The billionaire left OpenAI before the company managed to achieve success in the field of artificial intelligence, and in 2023 he founded his own competing startup, xAI.
Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit against Open AI and Sam Altman, claiming the company had strayed from its founding mission of developing AI for the benefit of people, not for profit. OpenAI has denied the allegations, and Altman has said Musk is using the lawsuit to slow down his competitor.
The lawsuit is about OpenAI’s transition to a commercial business model, which the company’s management believes is critical to attracting funding and successfully competing in the expensive AI race. Earlier this year, Altman also rejected a $97.4 billion offer to sell OpenAI to a group of investors led by Elon Musk.