The Trial of the Century will be on April 27, 2026, at 8 am sharp.
In a federal courthouse in Oakland, jury selection in Elon Musk v. Sam Altman will start after a breakfast ordered by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Few legal experts expected this lawsuit would get this far, apparently out of skepticism of Musk’s legal claims against OpenAI’s conversion to a non-profit.
But, earlier this month, Judge Gonzalez Rogers changed everything. She concluded that Musk’s claims of breach of constructive trust, constructive fraud, fraud, and unjust enrichment had a sufficient evidentiary and legal basis to go to trial.
Indeed, Judge Gonzalez Rogers found that one interpretation of the circumstantial evidence, including Greg Brockman’s contemporaneous diary, support Musk’s claim of fraud.
The Many Copyright Suits v. OpenAI Take a Backseat
In a blink of an eye, Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling has relegated the many (upwards of 17 or 18 in the United States alone) copyright lawsuits against OpenAI to the backseat. In the MDL Litigation before Judge Stein, replies for summary judgment motions are not due until Oct. 16, 2026.
That means this April trial in Musk v. Altman will be long done well before the briefing on summary judgment in the copyright suits against OpenAI even starts.
The potential liability OpenAI faces in the copyright suits is enormous, potentially existential due to the multiplier effect of statutory damages. But, for now, those copyright suits seem the least of OpenAI’s legal problems.
But Elon Musk won’t settle.
Will Tort Claims Provide OpenAI’s Day of Reckoning?
First up are Elon Musk’s several tort claims (fraud, constructive fraud, and unjustment enrichment), plus the law of trusts (breach of charitable trusts).
What should be most worrisome for OpenAI is that Musk is seeking also punitive damages for the intentional tort claims such as fraud.
And that’s on top of the nearly $110 billion Musk seeks in disgorgement from OpenAI’s alleged ill-gotten gains derived from Musk’s donations and efforts in building OpenAI as a nonprofit.
Plus, Musk seeks an injunction. Although Judge Gonzalez Rogers rejected a preliminary injunction in this case, she seemed to leave open the possibility for an injunction on a full evidentiary record. Presumably, Musk will ask to stop OpenAI from converting to a for-profit (PBC).
If these factors do not raise enough concern for OpenAI, the prospect of leaving a case to a jury aka a “black box” has to be nerve-racking. That’s why most cases settle.
But Elon Musk won’t settle.