OpenAI sues Elon Musk for unfair competition, escalating legal feud

OpenAI is suing Elon Musk for unfair competition and interfering with its business relationships with investors and customers, escalating a legal battle between the ChatGPT maker and the billionaire who helped bankroll the artificial intelligence startup a decade ago. 

The allegations against Musk were filed Wednesday in a federal court in California as a counterclaim to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which is heading to a jury trial next year. 

Musk, an early OpenAI investor who now runs his own AI firm, xAI, began a legal offensive against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman more than a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit research laboratory. 

A federal judge in March denied Musk's request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company but said she could expedite a trial to consider Musk's claims. 

She offered to hold a trial later this year, but it has been pushed back to March 2026.