On Wednesday, OpenAI filed a counterclaim in the Northern District of California against Elon Musk’s lawsuit. The company alleges that Musk has “set in motion a campaign of harassment, interference, and misinformation designed to take down OpenAI and clear the field for himself.”
In a statement on X, OpenAI said, “Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit. Today, we counter-sued to stop him.”
In the lawsuit, OpenAI contends:
Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed. He made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead—not for humanity but for Elon Musk.
In case you didn’t know, Elon Musk was one of OpenAI’s co-founders, but he left after unsuccessfully attempting to become CEO and take control of the company. Since then, he has repeatedly tried to lure OpenAI employees away and hinder the company’s progress.
In February 2024, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, claiming the company had strayed from its original mission and prioritized profits over AI safety. However, he voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit in June. Then in August, Musk revived the legal action, alleging he had been “manipulated” into co-founding OpenAI.
Musk claims he decided to invest in OpenAI because it was a “non-profit” organization, but now accuses the company of pursuing profits in partnership with Microsoft. However, in December, OpenAI published a blog post revealing that Musk himself had previously advocated for a “for-profit” structure.
OpenAI’s counterclaim is a direct response to Musk’s lawsuit. The trial is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026. In the meantime, in February 2025, Musk made an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, which was unanimously rejected by the company’s board, stating that OpenAI is not for sale.
