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Musk Testifies OpenAI Betrayed Nonprofit Roots as Trial Spotlights Its For-Profit Shift

• By John K. Waters
• 04/29/2026

Elon Musk returned to the witness stand on Wednesday in his lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company he helped found of using its nonprofit origins to gain public trust before moving toward a for-profit structure. Musk testified that OpenAI’s nonprofit status gave it “moral high ground,” but said the company could not “have your cake and eat it too” by presenting itself as a public-interest organization while pursuing commercial growth, NPR reported.

The testimony came during a trial over Musk’s claims that OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman, and the company departed from OpenAI’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. CourtListener lists the case as Musk v. Altman, No. 4:24-cv-04722, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

OpenAI has denied wrongdoing and argued that Musk’s claims are driven in part by his rivalry with the company through his own AI firm, xAI. The Guardian reported that OpenAI’s lawyers sought to frame Musk’s claims as inconsistent with his own earlier conduct and business interests.

Under questioning by his lawyer, Musk described his relationship with OpenAI as moving through three stages: early enthusiasm, growing concern, and a later belief that its leaders were “looting the nonprofit,” according to NPR.

OpenAI’s lawyers sought to challenge that account by focusing on Musk’s own role in earlier discussions about whether the company should adopt a for-profit structure. Business Insider reported that OpenAI’s legal team used internal communications and meeting notes to argue that Musk had previously considered, or supported, ways for OpenAI to raise money through a commercial entity.

Musk pushed back during cross-examination, accusing OpenAI’s lawyer of trying to trick him. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers intervened several times to keep the testimony focused, The Guardian reported.

One of the central issues in the case is whether OpenAI’s later commercial structure violated commitments made when the company was founded as a nonprofit in 2015. Musk has said he supported OpenAI because he believed it would serve as a counterweight to profit-driven AI development. OpenAI says it needed substantial capital to build advanced AI systems and that its structure remained consistent with its mission.

Musk also addressed why he did not sue earlier. He testified that he did not object to a for-profit subsidiary if it served the nonprofit, but later concluded that the arrangement had flipped, saying “the tail is wagging the dog.” He pointed to Microsoft’s major investment in OpenAI as a moment that deepened his concerns about the company’s direction, according to Business Insider.

The trial has placed OpenAI’s unusual corporate structure under close scrutiny. The company began as a nonprofit research lab, later added a capped-profit subsidiary, and has since become one of the most valuable and closely watched companies in the AI industry.

Musk is seeking remedies that include reversing OpenAI’s for-profit conversion, removing Altman and Brockman, and redirecting damages to the nonprofit side of the organization. OpenAI has characterized the suit as an effort by a former insider and current competitor to disrupt its business.

No final ruling was issued on Wednesday. The proceedings remain focused on testimony and evidence about OpenAI’s founding, its shift toward commercialization, and Musk’s role in both.