Elon Musk faces warning from judge over OpenAI case posts

A judge’s stern warning

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had had enough. She called Elon Musk to the bench and asked him bluntly, how can we get things done without you making things worse outside the courtroom?

The judge was angry about Musk’s nonstop posts on X before the trial even started. She threatened to slap a gag order on him if he didn’t stop. A gag order would legally ban him from talking about the case publicly. That’s a serious move for someone who loves sharing his thoughts with millions of followers.

Musk promises to behave

Musk told the judge he wasn’t starting fights; he was just hitting back at OpenAI’s public statements. Only after they posted very publicly about this case, only then did I respond, he said.

The judge offered a clean slate. She asked Musk, Sam Altman, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman to keep their trial-related posts to a minimum. All three men agreed. It was a rare moment of peace between two billionaires who usually enjoy trading insults online.

What Musk wants from the court

Elon Musk isn’t just looking for an apology. He wants Judge Rogers to remove Sam Altman from OpenAI’s board entirely and roll back the company’s for-profit status.

On top of that, he’s seeking up to $150 billion in damages. But here’s the twist: that money wouldn’t go to him. It would go straight to OpenAI’s original charitable arm instead. Musk says he wants to undo what he calls the looting of a nonprofit that was meant to benefit all of humanity.

The advisory jury twist

Here’s something you don’t see every day. This trial has a nine-person jury, but they only serve as advisors. The final decision rests completely with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

That means she listens to what the jury thinks, but she makes the final call alone. She’s handled huge tech cases before, including the Epic Games fight against Apple back in 2021. She knows her stuff. Judge Rogers once described the case to potential jurors simply as just a case about promises and breaches of promises.

Little-known fact: Before selecting the final nine, the judge started with a pool of 40 prospective jurors. The selection process took five hours of close questioning to ensure they could be fair to both sides.

A history of online barbs

The insults between Musk and Altman have been flying for years. Musk calls him Scam Altman online. Altman has fired back by posting about canceling a $50,000 Tesla purchase just to tease his rival.

Neither man holds back when they’re upset. That’s exactly why the judge stepped in. She doesn’t want public fighting to disrupt what happens in her courtroom. Their feud is now so well known that one person commented online, Can we just put both of them on a SpaceX Rocket and fire it into the Sun? Asking for Humanity.

The birth of OpenAI

OpenAI started as a nonprofit in 2015. The founding group included Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman, and its stated mission was to advance digital intelligence in a way that benefited humanity rather than private profit.

In 2019, OpenAI created a capped-profit subsidiary to raise the capital needed for advanced AI development. In October 2025, its for-profit arm became OpenAI Group PBC, while the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation retained control and an ownership stake. Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 and now argues that the restructuring broke the organization’s original promise, while OpenAI says Musk was aware of the for-profit plans and later changed his position.

Musk gets cut off on the stand

During his testimony, Musk tried to warn everyone about AI ending the world. He talked about Terminator situations, where machines kill all humans. The judge had heard enough.

She stopped him right there and told the court they weren’t going to talk much about extinction. Her message was clear: stick to the facts of this case, not science fiction movies. Musk also had to be told by the judge to repeat four words, I’m not a lawyer, which he did.

A-list witness list

This trial is not short on famous faces. Elon Musk and Sam Altman are both central witnesses, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is on the witness list, and former OpenAI technology chief Mira Murati testified by video.

Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and the mother of four of Musk’s children, has also testified. The witness list reads like a who’s who of Silicon Valley’s biggest power players.

Little-known fact: Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI since 2019. If Musk wins, Microsoft could be ordered to hand over a slice of what its partnership was worth to the OpenAI nonprofit, not to Musk.

The 2023 board drama

Remember when OpenAI’s own board tried to fire Sam Altman? That happened in November 2023, when OpenAI’s then-board said Altman would leave as CEO after it lost confidence in his leadership.

The move unraveled within days after employee backlash and Microsoft’s public support for Altman. He returned as CEO shortly afterward, while OpenAI announced a new initial board led by Bret Taylor, with Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. Altman later rejoined OpenAI’s board in March 2024 after an outside review.

Jury selection struggle

Picking a jury for this trial wasn’t easy. Many people have strong feelings about the two tech billionaires.

During selection, one prospective juror said, I do have some strong feelings about Elon and just how he does things, and another commented, Elon doesn’t care about people, much like our president. He cares about money. Judge Rogers noted that many people don’t like him, referring to Musk.

A settlement that failed

Just two days before the trial started, Musk tried to settle. He texted Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, to discuss ending the legal fight. Brockman suggested Musk drop all claims against the individuals.

Musk replied with a threat, by the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. The judge ruled that settlement communications couldn’t be shown to the jury, but the text captures just how personal this fight has become.

What’s at stake for Microsoft?

Microsoft might seem like a side player in this drama, but it is right at the heart of the case. The company has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI since 2019. If Musk wins, a federal judge could order Microsoft to hand over billions to OpenAI’s nonprofit side.

Musk’s damages expert put the combined demand as high as $134 billion across OpenAI and Microsoft, with Microsoft’s potential share estimated between $13.3 billion and $25 billion. That is a massive amount for any company to face, and the judge has already questioned parts of the damages theory.

Want the bigger picture on how this legal fight keeps escalating? Take a look at the growing clash between OpenAI and Elon Musk.

The final decision

The trial is expected to last about two to three weeks total. Witness testimony is underway, and both billionaires are being questioned about old emails, texts, and decisions from OpenAI’s early years.

At the end, Judge Rogers will decide the court-ordered remedies if Musk proves his claims. If Musk wins, the ruling could disrupt OpenAI’s restructuring plans and reshape one of the most closely watched companies in artificial intelligence. If OpenAI wins, it would remove a major legal obstacle from its path as it pursues a possible future as a public company.

Want to see what OpenAI is building even beyond this courtroom fight? Take a look at the backing of Sam Altman’s neural interface company, Merge Labs, which hints at what could come next.

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