The high-profile lawsuit between SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk and ChatGPT creator OpenAI has entered a new stage. After weeks of former colleagues taking the stand to question OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s character, he is now set to testify on May 12 and 13 at the federal courthouse in Oakland, California. The outcome could reshape OpenAI’s leadership and corporate structure ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).
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Former OpenAI Executives Testify Against Altman
Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is now in its third week. The case centers on his claim that OpenAI betrayed its original nonprofit mission by accepting a $10 billion investment from Microsoft (MSFT). Musk, who spent three days on the stand in late April, called it a deliberate “bait-and-switch.”
OpenAI has pushed back, arguing that Musk was always aware of the for-profit plan but simply wanted control of the AI firm for himself. The trial has since grown far beyond corporate structure into a probe about Altman’s leadership.
Musk’s legal team has used testimony from former OpenAI executives, internal emails, and private text messages to build a case that Altman cannot be trusted. Last week, jurors even heard testimony from witnesses who accused Altman of creating chaos inside the company.
Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, who left the company in 2024, claimed that Altman had a habit of misinforming people. On May 10, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever added to the mounting accusations against Altman. He testified that he spent nearly a year gathering evidence of what he described as a “consistent pattern of lying” by Altman.
OpenAI Co-Founder Adds to Scrutiny Ahead of Altman’s Testimony
Two former board members have also backed up the claims on Altman’s leadership conduct. Helen Toner told the court in a video deposition that a clear pattern of dishonesty was what pushed the board to briefly remove Altman as CEO in 2023. Natasha McCauley went further, saying his leadership constantly threw the company into a “repeated crisis.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stand on May 11. He was questioned about the 2023 OpenAI leadership crisis and Altman’s brief removal as CEO. Nadella said he never pressured the board to reinstate Altman and noted he was never given a clear reason for his firing.
He also spoke on Microsoft’s stake in the AI firm, saying he was proud to have invested in it. His appearance shows how many senior industry figures have been pulled into the legal dispute. Among them are OpenAI President Greg Brockman and former board member Shivon Zilis, who is also a mother to four of Musk’s children.
Altman, who denies Musk’s allegations, is expected to face tough questions from Musk’s legal team as the case goes on. With closing arguments near and the jury set to decide soon, the timing of the OpenAI CEO’s testimony could not be more critical.
Is OpenAI Going to Be Public?
As of May 12, OpenAI is still a privately held company and has no publicly traded stock yet. The firm has also not set a firm IPO date, but it is widely anticipated to go public in 2026, alongside competitors such as Anthropic and ByteDance. For more information and analysts’ insights on OpenAI ahead of its IPO, visit TipRanks’ private company center.
