Musk and Altman face off in trial that will determine OpenAI's future

A hotly anticipated trial starts this week, where Elon Musk will attempt to prove that OpenAI, under Sam Altman, has abandoned its mission to remain a nonprofit in order to ensure that artificial intelligence serves humanity, and not just billionaires.

Many view the lawsuit as a grudge match between Musk—who left OpenAI after serving as an early major donor and advisor—and Altman—who currently runs OpenAI, despite insiders’ allegedly growing distrust in his commitment to the dominant AI firm’s mission. But the lawsuit is about much more than a couple billionaires’ big egos. The outcome could radically change the AI landscape, impacting how OpenAI runs and what resources the firm will have to uphold its mission.

If Musk wins, OpenAI’s hopes of growing a for-profit arm that can fund the nonprofit could be dashed. Additionally, Brockman and Altman could be dropped as officers, and Altman risks losing his seat on OpenAI’s board.

If Altman wins, OpenAI’s mission could be lost—with the AI startup perhaps following in the footsteps of Google, which famously vowed that “Don’t be evil” drove its business decisions, but no longer seems bound by that unofficial motto.

Jury selection starts Monday, but jurors won’t have the final say in either the liability phase of the trial or the remedies phase, if the trial reaches that point. Instead, a US district judge in Northern California, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, will consider the jury’s insights during phase one before making the ultimate decision in both phases.

Since the lawsuit was filed, OpenAI has cast Musk as intensely jealous of Altman’s company, while claiming that the litigation is nothing more than a continuation of an alleged harassment campaign. OpenAI suspects that Musk is using the litigation as a delay tactic while his own AI firm, xAI—recently folded into SpaceX—races to catch up to OpenAI’s lead after the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.