War Between Two Tech Titans Reveals Shocking Facts
The legal war between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has entered a new chapter. The trial between these two ‘titans’ will open internal documents, including the personal diary of an executive.
Proceedings at the federal court in Oakland, California, have begun the jury selection process. This case is not merely a business dispute but could determine the future of OpenAI, the ChatGPT chatbot, and even the overall direction of artificial intelligence development.
One piece of evidence comes from the 2017 diary of OpenAI President Greg Brockman. In the notes, he wrote, “This is our only chance to get out from Elon.” He also questioned Musk’s leadership with the sentence, “Is he the ‘supreme leader’ I would choose?”.
These documents form part of thousands of pages of evidence revealed after Musk sued OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Microsoft in 2024. Musk is seeking damages of up to US$150 billion and accuses OpenAI of betraying its original mission as a non-profit organisation in favour of profits.
Musk claims he was deceived into funding OpenAI. He says Altman and Brockman deviated from the initial goal of benefiting humanity and instead built a “wealth machine” for their own interests.
He also demands that OpenAI return to being a non-profit organisation, remove Altman and Brockman from executive positions, and oust Altman from the board of directors.
However, OpenAI has hit back hard. The company says Musk’s lawsuit is merely a jealous attempt to hinder a competitor while promoting his own AI company, xAI.
“This lawsuit has been baseless from the start and driven by jealousy to disrupt a competitor,” OpenAI stated in a post on X, quoted from Reuters, Tuesday (28/4/2026).
Musk immediately denied the accusations. “I started it, funded it, recruited key talent, and taught everything I know about building a successful startup FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD. Then they stole that charity,” he wrote.
Court documents also reveal long-standing conflicts between the two sides. In 2015, Altman invited Musk to build OpenAI as a “Manhattan Project for AI” to rival Google. Musk’s involvement later helped OpenAI recruit top researchers.
However, relations soured in 2017 when Musk questioned the viability of OpenAI’s business model and was said to want to become CEO. This sparked internal tensions.
In his personal notes, Brockman even wrote about financial ambitions. “Financially, what can get me to US$1 billion?” he wrote. He also noted, “Accepting Elon’s terms would destroy two things: our ability to choose and the economy.”
Musk eventually stepped down from the board in 2018. A year later, OpenAI changed its structure to a for-profit entity, which is now at the heart of the dispute.
This case also implicates Microsoft as a major investor in OpenAI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Musk, and Altman are expected to testify in the trial.
The trial comes amid OpenAI’s major ambitions for an IPO with a valuation potentially reaching US$1 trillion. Meanwhile, Musk’s AI company, xAI, lags in adoption and is now integrated into SpaceX.