Sam · Engadget
What you need to know as Elon Musk's suit against Sam Altman begins
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◎ Multiple-sources
In a few short days, jury selection will begin in the long-awaited Musk v. More than being the venue where two billionaires will air their grievances against one another in public, the trial has the potential to reshape the AI industry.
Key facts
- Musk’s legal team is seeking a disgorgement of between $65.5 billion and $109.43 billion from OpenAI (and between $13.3 billion and $25.06 billion from Microsoft, which is a co-defendant in the case)
- Musk first sued OpenAI in 2024, but the seed of the dispute was planted when Sam Altman emailed the billionaire on the evening of May 25, 2015
- Following Musk’s departure, OpenAI created its for-profit arm in 2019, which at the time was organized under a “capped-profit” structure designed to limit investor returns to 100x, with any excess
- Dorff suspects OpenAI “would love” the minimalist version where Musk is rewarded his $38 million donation back
Summary
In a few short days, jury selection will begin in the long-awaited Musk v. Musk first sued OpenAI in 2024, but the seed of the dispute was planted when Sam Altman emailed the billionaire on the evening of May 25, 2015. Any thoughts on whether it would be good for to start a Manhattan Project for AI?” “Probably worth a conversation,” Musk responded a couple of hours later. That same year, OpenAI announced itself to the world, with Altman and Musk as co-chairs of the new joint venture.
Following Musk’s departure, OpenAI created its for-profit arm in 2019, which at the time was organized under a “capped-profit” structure designed to limit investor returns to 100x, with any excess windfalls flowing to the company’s nonprofit.