OpenAI has warned its investors and banking partners to expect what it describes as “deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims” from Elon Musk as his lawsuit against the company heads to trial in April. The warning was delivered in a private letter and reflects OpenAI’s effort to calm investor concerns ahead of a highly public court case.
The letter comes as tensions escalate between OpenAI and Musk, one of its original co-founders. The trial is expected to bring renewed public attention to a dispute that has been building for years, centered on OpenAI’s shift away from its original nonprofit structure.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research organization alongside several others, including CEO Sam Altman. He left OpenAI’s board in 2018. In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit claiming he was “assiduously manipulated” and “deceived” as OpenAI explored becoming a for-profit company and built what he described as an “opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates,” including its partnership with Microsoft.
In the letter viewed by CNBC, OpenAI said, “We have strong defenses and feel confident about our chances of winning the case.” The company added, “Regardless, based on the record so far, we believe this case is worth no more than the $38M that Elon donated – though that is not a guarantee.”
OpenAI also told investors it expects Musk to make statements that are not “grounded in reality” and described the anticipated claims as “typical of the harassment tactics he’s previously deployed.” The company said it is preparing its team to focus on presenting its case clearly to a jury.
“Elon’s lawsuit remains baseless and without merit, and our team is focused on ensuring the jury sees these claims for what they are,” OpenAI said in the letter. The company declined to comment further on the communication.
The legal fight is moving forward after U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled earlier this month that the case will proceed to trial. The lawsuit was filed in August 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
OpenAI has raised billions of dollars from investors and is now valued at roughly $500 billion. The upcoming trial is expected to test how courts view the balance between OpenAI’s nonprofit origins and its current commercial structure.
Looking ahead, the case could shape how future AI organizations communicate with donors, investors, and the public as they evolve from research-focused nonprofits into large commercial platforms.
Source: CNBC
