Elon Musk has dropped his fraud claims against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman, ahead of an April 27 trial date in his lawsuit against the ChatGPT-maker. According to a report by news agency Reuters, a US judge dismissed Musk's fraud claims in his lawsuit accusing them of betraying OpenAI's original mission, at Musk's own request.
However, the lawsuit will proceed to trial on Musk's claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. The ruling was issued by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, the report said.
As per the Reuters report, Musk stated that dismissing his fraud and constructive fraud claims would “streamline” the case and keep jurors focused on his goal of ensuring that OpenAI benefits humanity, rather than becoming a “wealth machine.”
Elon Musk vs OpenAI
On April 27, the companies led by two of the most powerful figures in the tech world will face each other. Elon Musk, the world's richest man and owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, will go to trial against Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The lawsuit, filed by Elon Musk in November 2024, then withdrawn and revived in early 2026, is not about money in the traditional sense. Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is about a ‘broken promise’. His central argument is that OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit dedicated to developing artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of all humanity.
Elon Musk Seeks $150 Billion in Damages
Under the lawsuit, Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages, according to a person involved in the case, with proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm. OpenAI has pushed back hard, calling the lawsuit a distraction driven by competitive jealousy. They have pointed out that Musk is now building a rival AI company called xAI, which competes directly with OpenAI, and this trial is one of the ways he wants to block the success of the ChatGPT-maker. The trial is expected to be one of the most closely watched legal battles in Silicon Valley history.
