The Richest Grudge Match in History
Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman and OpenAI, alleging the company abandoned its nonprofit mission for profit, a trial that exposes deep tensions in the AI industry over ethics, power, and control. The courtroom drama, marked by technical glitches and personal animosity, underscores a rift that helped shape the AI boom. Musk seeks to dismantle OpenAI’s current structure and reclaim billions in funding, but faces accusations of hypocrisy. The outcome could influence how AI develops globally, amid growing concerns about concentration of power in the hands of a few tech leaders.
- ▪Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman and OpenAI, claiming they violated the company’s founding nonprofit mission by prioritizing profits.
- ▪Musk demands OpenAI revert to a nonprofit, Altman be removed from leadership, and $150 billion in 'ill-gotten gains' be returned to a charitable trust.
- ▪OpenAI and Microsoft argue Musk’s lawsuit is hypocritical, noting he pushed for merging OpenAI with Tesla and later launched his own for-profit AI venture, xAI.
- ▪The trial has revealed personal tensions, including Musk’s use of a former OpenAI board member with whom he has a romantic relationship to monitor the company.
- ▪This legal battle reflects broader industry conflicts over AI’s direction, with similar schisms leading to the creation of rival firms like Anthropic and Meta’s expanded AI efforts.
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TechnologyThe Richest Grudge Match in HistoryThe trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman makes the AI boom seem sordid and small.By Matteo WongIllustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Krisztian Bocsi / Bloomberg / Getty; Anna Moneymaker / Getty; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.April 28, 2026, 7:13 PM ET ShareSave Elon Musk and Sam Altman are two of the most influential people in Silicon Valley, if not the world. Between the two of them, Musk and Altman run technology companies worth many trillions of dollars that promise to reshape civilization. But this morning, both sat under fluorescent lights in a courthouse in downtown Oakland, suffering through all manner of technical glitches as their respective attorneys kicked off the long-awaited trial in Musk v.
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