Elon Musk’s intense legal struggle against Sam Altman began on April 27, with Musk intensifying his criticism of OpenAI’s management in a forceful post on X.
In a widely shared social media update, Musk labelled Altman as “Scam Altman” and referred to OpenAI president Greg Brockman as “Greg Stockman,” accusing them of betraying the foundational values of the organisation.
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Accusations Against Scam Altman and Greg Stockman
“Scam Altman and Greg Stockman appropriated a charity, plain and simple.
Greg received tens of billions in stock for himself, while Scam Aiman engaged in numerous OpenAI side deals ensuring his share of the profits, much like Y Combinator’s approach. Following this lawsuit, Scam is likely to gain tens of billions in stock directly as well.
The crucial question is:
Do you wish to establish a legal precedent in the United States that allows for the looting of a charity? If so, this would undermine all charitable contributions across the United States indefinitely.
I could have launched OpenAI as a for-profit entity. Instead, it was founded, financed, and staffed with key talent with the intention of serving the public interest.
Then they misappropriated the charity.”
Musk’s comments were a reaction to OpenAI, which dismissed the lawsuit as unfounded and driven by competition.
Scam Altman and Greg Stockman appropriated a charity, plain and simple.Greg received tens of billions in stock for himself, while Scam Altman engaged in numerous OpenAI side deals…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2026
OpenAI’s Response to the Lawsuit
“We’re eager to present our case in court, where both the truth and the law are in our favour. This lawsuit represents a futile and envious attempt to hinder a competitor. It will also provide us the opportunity to question Mr. Musk under oath in front of a Californian jury regarding his attempts to undermine our mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence is beneficial to all humanity,” OpenAI outlined in a post on X.
We are eager to present our case in court, where both the truth and the law are in our favour. This lawsuit represents a futile and envious attempt to hinder a competitor…
— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) April 27, 2026
Why Did Musk File a Lawsuit Against OpenAI?
The legal confrontation stems from a lawsuit Musk instituted in 2024, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission as a non-profit dedicated to creating artificial intelligence for the benefit of the public.
OpenAI, launched in 2015 by Musk, Altman, Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman, was initially set up as a non-profit. Musk alleges he invested approximately £38 million on the assurance that the organisation would maintain an open-source and non-commercial approach.
The litigation claims that Altman and Brockman “deliberately courted and misled Musk,” convincing him to support what was promoted as a non-profit project before shifting to a profit-oriented structure, aided by its significant partnership with Microsoft.
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Musk is pursuing damages of up to £134 billion, which he argues should be allocated to OpenAI’s non-profit division, and has also requested that the court remove Altman from his role as CEO.
How Did OpenAI Address Musk’s Lawsuit?
OpenAI has dismissed the allegations, asserting that Musk’s departure from the company resulted from a failed power struggle rather than any ideological stance.
The organisation claims that Musk attempted to gain full control over OpenAI and even suggested merging it with Tesla. When these demands were turned down, he chose to leave.
OpenAI has also countered Musk’s financial assertions, clarifying that his £38 million contribution was a donation, not an investment, and was entirely utilised to advance the organisation’s mission.
The company insists that its objective of developing artificial general intelligence that benefits humanity remains unchanged, portraying Musk’s legal actions as part of a wider competitive rivalry, including his own AI project, xAI.
