Elon Musk vs. Sam Altman: Court Battle Over OpenAI's For-Profit Shift and $1 Trillion IPO Plans

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are set to face off in court over the future of OpenAI, a legal battle that hinges on the company’s transformation from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization—and its upcoming public offering.

In his lawsuit, Musk accuses Altman of illegally converting OpenAI into a for-profit entity, which is now expected to go public as early as this summer with a valuation nearing $1 trillion.

The Origins of OpenAI’s Mission Shift

OpenAI’s backstory is central to the dispute. In 2024, shortly after Musk filed his lawsuit, OpenAI claimed that its founders recognized early in its development that securing sufficient funding—particularly for computing power and other resources—required restructuring as a for-profit company. To attract investors, OpenAI became a for-profit subsidiary of the OpenAI Foundation, the original nonprofit entity.

In December 2024, OpenAI stated that Musk had agreed in 2017 that a for-profit transition was necessary. However, Musk allegedly demanded “absolute control” as sole CEO—along with a merger with Tesla. Following a reported power struggle with Altman in 2018, Musk left OpenAI’s board, citing potential conflicts of interest as Tesla’s CEO.

Musk’s Demands and OpenAI’s Evolution

Musk is now demanding that the billions in profits generated by the for-profit OpenAI be returned to the OpenAI Foundation. He is also seeking Altman’s removal from leadership roles in both the for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Musk, Altman, and nine others. At its launch, the nonprofit’s stated mission was to “advance digital intelligence in a way that benefits humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.”

By 2018, OpenAI’s charter included a commitment to prioritize safety and assist other projects if a “value-aligned, safety-conscious project” neared achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) before OpenAI did. However, the company’s trajectory has diverged significantly from this original vision.

From Idealism to Controversy

Today, OpenAI operates massive energy-intensive data centers, its chatbot has been linked to multiple mass shootings, and tech journalist Karen Hao described the company in 2025 as posing “the greatest threat to democracy we’ve seen to date.”

The company has also faced criticism for its $10 billion deal with the Pentagon to provide AI technology for military applications. Following user backlash, Altman announced in March 2026 that OpenAI would amend its agreement to clarify that its technology would “not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.”

Altman posted on X (formerly Twitter):

We have been working with the DoW to make some additions in our agreement to make our principles very clear. 1. We are going to amend our deal to add this language, in addition to everything else: “Consistent with applicable laws…”
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 3, 2026

OpenAI’s shift from its humanitarian mission to a for-profit powerhouse has drawn sharp criticism. Earlier this month, the company released a 13-page document outlining “ambitious ideas” to enhance safety as AI capabilities surpass human performance.