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All of the updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s battle over OpenAI
LIVE Updated Today, May 18, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC All of the updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s battle over OpenAI by Elizabeth Lopatto and Hayden Field Link Share RSS Gift Sam Altman and Elon Musk are facing off in a high-stakes trial that could alter the future of OpenAI and its most well-known product, ChatGPT . In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding mission of developing AI to benefit humanity and shifting focus to boosting profits instead. After nearly a month of the hearing that featured testimony from Musk, Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, former OpenAI board member and mother of several of Musk’s children Shivon Zilis, and a few others, the jury deliberated for a couple of hours before returning with a verdict, deciding to dismiss all charges due to the statute of limitations. Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI and claims that Altman and Brockman tricked him into giving the company money, only to turn their backs on their original goal. However, OpenAI claimed that “This lawsuit has always been a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor” in a bid to boost Musk’s own SpaceX / xAI / X companies that have launched Grok as a competitor to ChatGPT. In his lawsuit, Musk asked for the removal of Altman and Brockman , and for OpenAI to stop operating as a public benefit corporation. People to Know Plaintiff Elon Musk — plaintiff, OpenAI cofounder and now CEO of rival xAI Steven Molo — lead counsel for the plaintiff Jared Birchall — manager of Musk’s family office Shivon Zilis — former OpenAI board member who shares multiple children with Musk Defendant Sam Altman — defendant, CEO of OpenAI William Savitt — lead counsel for the defendant Greg Brockman — president of OpenAI as well as a cofounder Ilya Sutskever — former chief scientist at OpenAI and a cofounder Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers — aka YGR, trial judge Here’s all the latest on the trial between Musk and Altman: Highlights Elon Musk lost his case against Sam Altman Microsoft doesn’t want any of this Sam Altman was winning on the stand, but it might not be enough Musk’s biggest loyalist became his biggest liability Mira Murati tells the court that she couldn’t trust Sam Altman’s words Google’s AI architect lived rent-free in Elon Musk’s head OpenAI’s president does ‘all the things,’ except answer a question Elon Musk’s worst enemy in court is Elon Musk Elon Musk appeared more petty than prepared Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy Pinned Today, 16 minutes ago Hayden Field Elon Musk lost his case against Sam Altman Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge After around two hours of deliberation, the jury has reached a unanimous verdict in Musk v. Altman , the tech trial of the year. The group found that two claims were barred by the statute of limitations, and a third failed thanks to the dismissal of one of these. The jury here is an advisory jury, meaning the group is installed solely to offer another opinion to the judge, and its verdict is technically not legally binding. Ultimately, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is the ultimate legal authority — and she accepted the decision. Read Article > Today, 26 minutes ago Richard Lawler The jury has delivered a unanimous verdict. That was quick (about two hours). Elon Musk lost his case against Sam Altman Hayden Field May 18 Today, 55 minutes ago Elizabeth Lopatto An observer has just been ejected from the court by the US marshals. I assume because he was recording, since the marshal said, “Give me your phone.” There have been several incidents of people attempting to record or take pictures throughout the trial — but I honestly am not sure why you’d record today of all days. Today, An hour ago Elizabeth Lopatto C. Paul Wazzan is the expert called by Musk to determine damages. Unfortunately he does not have a lot of details YGR is asking for. He doesn’t know how many investments Musk has made (11 to date, according to Pitchbook), or how many were successful. He’s getting some pretty tough questioning from YGR in the direct exam. Among the things she’d asked, he didn’t know how many startups fail in Silicon Valley, or the success rate for assorted VC firms. May 14 Elizabeth Lopatto Musk v. Altman accomplished nothing but airing dirty laundry Image: The Verge; Getty Images Today was closing arguments in the Musk v. Altman trial, and I almost feel bad writing about the unbelievable demolition derby I just witnessed. Steven Molo, Musk’s lawyer, stumbled over his words. He at one point called Greg Brockman — a co-defendant — Greg Altman. He erroneously claimed that Musk wasn’t asking for money and had to be corrected by the judge. He made it clear we’ve heard from many liars over the past few weeks, but offered little evidence for Musk’s actual legal claims. OpenAI’s lawyer Sarah Eddy countered this by simply arranging the mountain of evidence that the company introduced in chronological order. She didn’t spend time trying
- In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding mission of developing AI to benefit humanity and shifting focus to boosting profits instead.
- Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI and claims that Altman and Brockman tricked him into giving the company money, only to turn their backs on their original goal.
- However, OpenAI claimed that “This lawsuit has always been a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor” in a bid to boost Musk’s own SpaceX / xAI / X companies that have launched Grok as a competitor to ChatGPT.
- In his lawsuit, Musk asked for the removal of Altman and Brockman , and for OpenAI to stop operating as a public benefit corporation.
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