Elon Musk and Sam Altman finally found a common area of agreement — that a trial to settle their differences over the future of ChatGPT creator OpenAI should begin in December.
The proposal came in a joint court filing on Friday from Musk, Altman, OpenAI, and other named defendants, including Microsoft (MSFT). They asked for a two-week trial beginning Dec. 8.
A judge has ultimate discretion over whether to grant the joint request, though the California federal district court judge overseeing this case, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, is likely to agree on a date that both sides want.
The expedited battle is intended to weigh Musk’s claims that Altman and OpenAI breached various agreements by planning to convert the artificial intelligence startup into a for-profit enterprise. He tried and failed to get a judge to approve an immediate injunction stopping the conversion.
Musk helped co-found OpenAI with Altman in 2015 by donating $45 million to the startup, which Musk claims was contingent on OpenAI remaining a nonprofit organization.
Musk parted ways over disagreements regarding how to move forward with the venture. He started a competing AI company called xAI. Musk alleges that allowing OpenAI to continue pursuing for-profit status would cause “irreparable harm” to Musk, xAI, investors, and the public.
Gonzalez Rogers, the judge overseeing this case, has made it clear she wants at least part of the dispute to go to trial.
“Something is going to trial in this case,” she told lawyers for Musk, OpenAI, and Microsoft in January.
On March 4, she even proposed an expedited trial for the “fall of 2025.” The judge carved out some claims in Musk’s lawsuit that likely won’t go to trial until 2027 or 2028, including allegations that the defendants violated antitrust laws and that Altman violated laws prohibiting self-dealing.
Musk and Altman both told the judge they were in favor of a trial on the expedited claims in December. But that’s where their agreement ends.
The parties disputed which of Musk’s claims should go forward in the expedited trial and asked the judge to clarify. OpenAI also asked the judge to specify which claims remained open to defendant challenges.
According to Musk, the court should include his claim that OpenAI breached its duties as a charitable trust and its duty to operate in good faith, along with three claims alleging OpenAI entered into and violated a contract with Musk to remain a nonprofit.
According to Musk, Altman also breached laws against unfair competition by communicating a “fund no competitors” edict to OpenAI’s current and prospective investors and permitting interlocking board positions between OpenAI and Microsoft.
