OpenAI has countersued Elon Musk, accusing him of a pattern of harassment and a “sham” attempt to take over the company. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Northern California, aims to block Musk from continuing what OpenAI calls “unlawful and unfair” actions against the company.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI alongside CEO Sam Altman in 2015, left the company before it gained global attention through technologies like ChatGPT. In 2023, he launched his own AI company, xAI. Since then, Musk has tried to stop OpenAI from completing its shift to a for-profit model—a move that is critical for the company to secure $40 billion in new funding by the end of the year.
In court documents, OpenAI claims Musk has tried to damage the company through public criticism, legal pressure, and what it called a “fake” acquisition attempt. The company said Musk has used his massive following on X (formerly Twitter), as well as legal threats and a $97.4 billion unsolicited bid—rejected by OpenAI—as tools in a campaign to disrupt and potentially seize control of the company.
“Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit,” the company posted on X.
Musk’s legal team defended the takeover bid, saying OpenAI’s board failed to properly consider it. “Had OpenAI genuinely considered the offer, they would have recognized how serious it was,” said Marc Toberoff, Musk’s lawyer. He argued that OpenAI’s resistance to fair market valuation reflects poorly on their motives.
The court battle centers on OpenAI’s transformation into a for-profit business—an essential step, the company says, to raise capital in the highly competitive and expensive AI industry.
A jury trial is set for spring 2026.
This legal clash adds to the long-standing tensions between Musk and Altman, who have publicly disagreed over the direction of OpenAI and the ethics of AI development. Musk had earlier sued OpenAI and Altman, alleging that they had strayed from the company’s original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
OpenAI and Altman deny those claims, asserting instead that Musk is attempting to hinder a major competitor in the AI space.
