Elon Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI now has a pretrial settlement twist, after a new court filing alleged he contacted OpenAI president Greg Brockman two days before the Oakland federal trial began to gauge whether the company wanted to settle.
The filing, made Sunday, said Brockman responded by suggesting both sides drop their claims.
“By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be,” Musk allegedly replied.
OpenAI’s filing presents the exchange as the latest sign of an escalating dispute between Musk and the company he helped launch in 2015.
The trial began April 28 before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, and is expected to run for several weeks, with a verdict possible by mid-May. Altman, Brockman, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are expected to testify later in the proceeding.
The settlement flashpoint
The alleged message matters because Musk’s lawsuit is already built around a high-stakes claim: that OpenAI’s leaders used a nonprofit mission to raise support, talent, and money, then shifted the organization toward a for-profit structure that Musk says betrayed its original purpose. OpenAI denies the allegations and has argued that Musk knew the company needed a capital-raising structure to compete in frontier AI.
Musk is suing OpenAI, Altman, Brockman, and Microsoft, alleging breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. He is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, with proceeds directed to OpenAI’s charitable arm, and wants OpenAI returned to nonprofit control. He also wants Altman and Brockman removed as officers, and Altman removed from OpenAI’s board.
The filing landed after Musk testified Thursday that he did not read the fine print of a 2017 term sheet connected to OpenAI’s shift from nonprofit origins toward a for-profit structure. Musk said he read only the headline, a point OpenAI is likely to use to challenge whether he can prove he relied on specific legal commitments about OpenAI’s structure.
The Associated Press reported that Musk contributed about $38 million to OpenAI between 2015 and 2017, while claiming he became disillusioned by late 2022 because he believed Altman aimed to “steal the charity.” AP also reported that OpenAI’s lawyers argue there was no binding commitment to remain nonprofit and that Musk’s lawsuit benefits his competing AI company, xAI.
Microsoft’s role remains central because Musk alleges the company benefited from and helped enable OpenAI’s shift away from its original charitable mission. Most recently, Microsoft is loosening its grip on OpenAI in a revised partnership that ends Microsoft’s revenue-share payments to the ChatGPT maker, removes exclusivity from the relationship, and gives OpenAI more freedom to sell its technology across rival cloud platforms.
Information for this briefing was found via The Globe And Mail and the sources and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
