OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk in Legal Dispute Over ChatGPT

OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and for interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence (AI) startup a decade ago, Matt O’Brien reported for the Associated Press (AP).

OpenAI has accused Musk of making a “sham bid” in February to buy a controlling stake in the nonprofit.

The allegations against Musk were filed in federal court in California as a counterclaim to the Tesla CEO’s lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year.

Musk — an early investor in OpenAI who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, along with Tesla, SpaceX, social media platform X, and President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago.

He first sued for breach of contract, accusing OpenAI of betraying its founding aim as a nonprofit research lab, then expanded his claims.

A federal judge in March denied Musk’s request to block OpenAI from converting to a for-profit company but said she could fast-track a trial. Though she offered to hold it later this year, it has now been pushed back to March 2026.

In its counterclaim, OpenAI accused Musk of making a “sham bid” in February to buy a controlling stake in the nonprofit.