Elon Musk and OpenAI to fast-track trial to December — suit aims to stop OpenAI's transition to a for-profit company

OpenAI and Elon Musk have agreed to accelerate their legal dispute regarding OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model, according to Reuters. The trial is set for December. A recent court decision denied Musk's attempt to halt this transition but allowed the case to proceed. Meanwhile, the parties have postponed deciding whether the case will be settled by a judge or a jury. 

According to a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, both parties have chosen to postpone the decision on whether the expedited case will be resolved by a judge or a jury. However, they agreed that the proposed trial is set for December. Earlier this month, the judge rejected Musk's motion to pause OpenAI's structural shift. 

Elon Musk initiated legal proceedings to block OpenAI's shift to a for-profit structure last fall accusing the organization of departing from its original mission. OpenAI countered, claiming Musk is trying to hinder its progress to benefit his rival company, xAI. Furthermore, OpenAI argued that Musk had previously supported a for-profit transition for personal financial gain. 

Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015 together with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, with the goal of advancing AI for the public good. He left the organization in 2018, citing concerns that a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft violated OpenAI's nonprofit values by prioritizing profit over public interest. Following OpenAI's 2022 release of ChatGPT and its move toward commercial partnerships, Musk filed a lawsuit in March 2023 to stop the organization's planned restructuring. He later expanded the lawsuit to include Microsoft, accusing it of influencing OpenAI's shift toward profit-driven operations. 

OpenAI disputes Musk's claims, arguing that his actions are intended to disrupt its progress for the advantage of xAI, another venture of Musk. In fact, OpenAI presented evidence that in 2017, Jared Birchall, who manages Musk's family office, registered a company intended to be a for-profit version of OpenAI. Documents and text messages show Musk sought a 50-60% equity stake in the entity, claiming it was necessary to help finance an $80 billion Mars colonization project.