Elon Musk vs. OpenAI: Jury Trial Set for March 2026 in High-Stakes AI Showdown
The legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI, the company he co-founded alongside CEO Sam Altman and others, has been ongoing for a while. After recently agreeing to expedite the process, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has officially scheduled a jury trial to begin on March 16, 2026.
Musk’s history with OpenAI: A brief timeline of events
2015: OpenAI, the company behind one of the leading generative AI tools, ChatGPT, was founded. The company’s original goal was to promote the safe and responsible development of advanced AI — a goal they originally pursued as a nonprofit.
2019: OpenAI transitioned to a capped for-profit structure. Musk had already left the company due to potential conflicts of interest and his increasing focus on Tesla; however, his involvement with OpenAI was far from over.
February 2024: Musk filed his first lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of deviating from their nonprofit mission in favor of increasing profitability. This lawsuit was withdrawn.
August 2024: Musk filed a similar lawsuit, reasserting the same claims.
December 2024: A preliminary injunction was filed by Musk and his legal team in an effort to halt OpenAI’s transition into a for-profit company.
February 2025: A consortium of investors led by Musk placed a bid of $97.4 billion to purchase OpenAI. The company’s board of directors quickly rejected the offer, noting that OpenAI was “not for sale.”
March 2025: Musk’s preliminary injunction was ultimately denied by the same judge that will be overseeing the upcoming jury trial. Following the ruling, an official blog post on OpenAI’s website rebuked Musk’s claims. The post read, in part: “This ruling brings us a big step closer to putting this ridiculous lawsuit to rest.”
April 2025: The date for the jury trial was announced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Scheduled to start on March 16, 2026, the trial is certain to make headlines as soon as it’s underway.
Will it be a speedy trial?
As one of the top AI companies today, it’s safe to say that OpenAI wants to resolve this matter as quickly and judiciously as possible; the judge has indicated she favors a speedy and fair trial, too. A wildcard appears to be Musk, though given his numerous other ventures, resolving the matter quickly may serve his best interests as well.
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