Whereas the authorized battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI is scheduled to start within the spring of 2026, the workforce at OpenAI has filed a countersuit accusing Musk of sustained harassment.

The OpenAI/Musk feud up to now

Though the roots of the feud go all the best way again to the late 2010s and the early days of OpenAI, the authorized battle between Musk and OpenAI formally started in February 2024.

That’s when Elon Musk filed his authentic lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI, alleging the AI firm had strayed from its founding mission as a nonprofit. Whereas that lawsuit was later withdrawn, Musk filed a revised grievance containing the identical core allegations in August 2024.

Musk’s authorized workforce additionally sought a preliminary injunction in opposition to OpenAI, which was meant to quickly halt its transition to a for-profit mannequin; nonetheless, that request was denied by the US District Choose Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who as a substitute scheduled a jury trial to start on March 16, 2026.

In February 2025, an funding consortium led by Musk positioned a bid of $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI. The buyout was expeditiously rejected by OpenAI’s board of administrators.

OpenAI’s countersuit

OpenAI’s countersuit revolves round Musk’s alleged ongoing harassment of the corporate. It cites the entire occasions talked about above as proof to assist its claims.

The countersuit reads, partially: “By way of press assaults, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk’s greater than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for company information, harassing authorized claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI’s belongings, Musk has tried each device out there to hurt OpenAI.”

OpenAI is just not denying its intentions to transition to a for-profit mannequin; the corporate says it’s a obligatory step that may assist them preserve competitiveness within the ever-growing shopper AI market. Nevertheless, OpenAI insists it’s staying true to the unique purpose of growing AI for the betterment of humanity as a substitute of focusing solely on company income.

In line with OpenAI, the corporate should full its transition to a for-profit mannequin by the tip of 2025. Failure to take action would price OpenAI a considerable portion of the $40 billion the corporate secured throughout its most up-to-date spherical of fundraising.

If Musk’s lawsuit is profitable, it appears OpenAI might want to abandon its for-profit mannequin solely — a transfer that might jeopardize the way forward for the corporate. For now, each events await the upcoming jury trial in spring 2026.