The trial between SpaceX founder Elon Musk and ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman has finally arrived. The case, Musk v. Altman, involves OpenAI, originally established as a non-profit organization to research artificial intelligence and its role in the US job industry. It later became a profitable business venture, attracting multiple competitors, including Anthropic.

Musk, who originally sued Altman in 2024, continues to insist that OpenAI abandoned its non-profit motives for one man’s greed. The xAI CEO demands that Altman reimburse previous donations, including the $44 million he donated for the company’s startup in 2015.

The timing couldn’t be worse for both AI titans, as their decade-long arguments led to multiple discoveries of their careers.

Musk v. Altman: The 10-Year War for OpenAI

When Sam Altman introduced OpenAI’s concept in 2015, he described the company’s mission for developing artificial general intelligence (AGI): “Our mission is to ensure that AGI, AI systems that are generally smarter than humans, benefits all of humanity.”

He piqued Elon Musk’s interest, as SpaceX is assisting NASA with its space exploration program, Launch America. According to NPR, the Tesla billionaire sent over $44 million to Altman’s non-profit. These two soon-to-be AI giants cooperated during OpenAI’s infancy, which led to fighting over its leadership. Analysts say that Altman won the position when Musk left in 2018.

In 2023, Altman was fired by its board of directors. He was later reinstated as OpenAI’s CEO after Microsoft’s Satya Nadella hired him and his colleagues for Microsoft’s AI research department. Many workers threatened to leave if he did not return. Musk established xAI to develop its own generative AI, Grok, at the time.

He soon launched multiple lawsuits against OpenAI in 2024. Time Magazine traced Musk’s patterns, from February to August, alleging that Altman betrayed the non-profit values. Musk v. Altman caught attention when he publicized an early 2017 email from the xAI founder.

Altman and his business partner, Greg Brockman, wanted to raise $100 million for the startup. Musk said, “We need to go much bigger than $100 million to avoid sounding hopeless. I think we should say that we are starting with a $1 billion funding commitment. I will cover for whatever anyone else doesn’t provide.“

Then, in two 2018 emails, the statement said that Musk insisted on an acquisition deal with OpenAI. He wanted Altman to rely on his Cybertruck manufacturer, Tesla, for funding. “Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google,” Musk advised, then later taunted, “Even raising several hundred million won’t be enough. This needs billions per year immediately, or forget it.”

Musk v. Altman was originally supposed to take place in California on Jun, 11, 2024. Musk later dismissed the case after he ranted on social media over Apple implementing ChatGPT as a backup AI program for their in-house program, Apple Intelligence. It wasn’t long before he filed again in August.

2025 Business Activity Became a National Concern

When Sam Altman and Elon Musk transitioned into 2025, they both became AI partners under the second Trump administration. Musk’s xAI agreed to assist Donald Trump’s second presidency back in September 2024 for held interest in the technology. This led the soon-to-be trillionaire to become an overseer for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

OpenAI was brought on board in a joint venture with Oracle and SoftBank on Jan. 22. Others followed suit, such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Nvidia, and Microsoft, for the Stargate Project. IBM explained that the $500 billion initiative is an AI data center development plan for the United States to be more technologically advanced than the rest of the world.

Instead, the project has led the US to rapidly deplete its resources, including water and electricity. Today, there are over 4,200 data centers across the nation that are stationed in communities near a water source. Virginia is the leader with 598 facilities, followed by Texas with 439 operations.

Even worse, Elon Musk was not a huge fan of the plan that led to arguments with Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). One of the key spending cuts he identified was removing tax credits for clean energy, which are essential for Tesla owners. Musk soon left DOGE on May 28, with one more gift for the president. He told the US and the world that he’s in the Epstein Files.

Meanwhile, journalists were uncovering Sam Altman’s past that could crumble OpenAI’s image. Multiple reports traced his investment activity from the past 18 years of his career. Soon, he went under financial suspicion when BG2 host Brad Gerstner questioned his trillion-dollar AI reindustrialized US plan due to ChatGPT’s $13 billion annual revenue.

From then on, OpenAI threatened anyone with subpoenas based on their discoveries. The Midas Project founder, Tyler Branston, was one of the watchdogs who received the message from their law division in August 2025. Unfortunately for Altman, the order never stopped them from reporting.

These titans’ paths have never stopped interwining. Now, with Musk v. Altman, their debacle helped the court gather enough evidence to decide OpenAI’s fate.

So Far, There is No Clear Winner

As Musk v. Altman continues live, the trial has been interesting but not surprising. The Verge has a dedicated news tracker for readers to follow the events for each day.

The reports mostly showed that Elon Musk is slinging his statements emotionally rather than rationally. He even goes back on his word of “not losing my temper.” Days 2 and 3 were the most progressive for the courtroom.

Altman’s lawyer, Attorney William Savitt, and Judge Gonzales Rodgers learned about Musk’s investments and intentions for OpenAI. His jealousy of Altman turning his million-dollar donation into an $800 billion business. This includes his motive for OpenAI to collaborate with Tesla for funding. However, whether Musk or Altman wins the case, neither man is going scot-free.

Twitter’s AI, Grok, is still under investigation in France for generating illegal sexual media. Tennessee later sued xAI for allowing these predatory operations to run on the social media platform. These cases could hold relevance to Musk’s connections with Jeffrey Epstein.

Altman is undergoing multiple lawsuits over ChatGPT’s behavior. Because of numerous reports of suicide advice and school shootings, a couple of states are taking the matter into their own hands.

In recent events, Colorado alleges the chatbot assisted 40-year-old Austin Gordon in committing suicide in January 2026. Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier prepared a criminal investigation probe for the FSU shooting for the AI, arranging different scenarios.