Two days before the start of the blockbuster trial pitting Elon Musk against the artificial intelligence company OpenAI, Mr. Musk sent a text message to Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president and co-founder, asking if he was interested in settling the case. The message was revealed in a court filing on May 4, 2026.
According to the filing, Musk's lawyers have also requested information about Brockman's net worth, which they estimate at $30 billion. The request is part of a broader discovery process in the lawsuit, which alleges that OpenAI has strayed from its original nonprofit mission.
The trial, scheduled to begin on May 7, 2026, in San Francisco, centers on Musk's claims that OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman breached a contract by prioritizing profits over the public good. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left the board in 2018.
OpenAI has denied the allegations, arguing that the company's shift to a capped-profit model was necessary to raise capital for developing advanced AI systems. The case has drawn significant attention from the tech industry and legal experts.
