Silicon Valley’s messiest breakup is definitely headed to court

The long-simmering dispute between OpenAI and Microsoft on one side and Elon Musk on the other is officially heading to trial.

According to earlier reporting by Bloomberg, a federal judge on Thursday rejected requests from OpenAI and Microsoft to dismiss Musk’s lawsuit and scheduled the case for a jury trial in late April. The decision sets the stage for a courtroom battle in Oakland, with Microsoft now firmly drawn into the legal fight.

The dispute dates back to OpenAI’s founding in 2015, when Musk and Sam Altman, along with other partners, launched the organisation as a nonprofit with a mission to advance artificial intelligence for the public good. That partnership later unravelled, and Musk left the organisation to found his own AI company, xAI, in 2023.

Musk now alleges that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit commitments by accepting billions of dollars from Microsoft and restructuring parts of its operations into a for-profit model. OpenAI has firmly rejected those claims, characterising Musk’s lawsuit as baseless, harassing, and an attempt to slow the company’s progress.

The fallout has extended beyond personal relationships. While OpenAI and Microsoft remain close business partners, they increasingly compete directly in the AI market. At the same time, Musk and Altman have shifted from collaborators to adversaries.

In her ruling, the judge said there was sufficient evidence for a jury to determine whether OpenAI violated its nonprofit obligations. A jury will also consider whether Microsoft knowingly assisted OpenAI in breaking those commitments. However, the judge dismissed Musk’s claim that Microsoft unjustly enriched itself at his expense.

With dismissal efforts denied and a trial date set, the legal clash between some of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures now appears all but certain to play out before a jury.