The most expensive grudge match in tech history is officially underway.

Jury selection began Monday morning at the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, California, as Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI entered its trial phase. The case, originally filed in February 2024 and amended multiple times since, has been distilled to two surviving claims: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust obligations.

The stakes are staggering. OpenAI completed a $40 billion funding round just days ago at a $300 billion valuation, with reports valuing the company as high as $852 billion when including committed future capital. Musk is arguing the entire for-profit conversion was built on a foundation of broken promises to him personally and to the public.

What Musk actually wants

Musk's legal team has been clear: they want Altman removed from OpenAI entirely and the for-profit conversion blocked. The unjust enrichment claim argues that Altman and other insiders personally benefited from what was supposed to be a nonprofit mission. The charitable trust claim argues that OpenAI's original nonprofit structure created binding obligations to the public that cannot simply be dissolved for profit.

The advisory jury will make recommendations to Judge Evelio Grillo, who holds final decision-making power. The liability phase is scheduled to run through May 21, with a potential damages phase to follow.

The jury pool tells a story

Monday's jury selection surfaced an uncomfortable reality for both sides. Multiple prospective jurors expressed negative views of Musk during questioning but said they could still be fair. Several others said they had strong opinions about AI safety and corporate governance that would be difficult to set aside. Finding twelve impartial people in the San Francisco Bay Area for a trial involving the world's richest man and the CEO of the most hyped company in tech is, to put it mildly, a challenge.

Both Musk and Altman were active on X before court opened. Musk posted that OpenAI had "betrayed humanity" by abandoning its open-source mission. Altman countered that Musk's real frustration was that his $100 million takeover bid in 2018 was rejected. The social media sparring stopped once proceedings began, but the tone was set.

What to watch

Opening arguments are expected Tuesday. Musk is expected to testify in person. Key witnesses include Altman, Brockman, and several former OpenAI board members who were involved in the original nonprofit founding documents. The trial will likely surface internal communications that both sides have fought to keep sealed.

If Musk wins on the charitable trust claim, the implications extend far beyond OpenAI. It would establish precedent that AI nonprofits cannot simply convert to for-profit entities without legal consequences, a ruling that would echo across the entire sector.

This trial has been two years in the making. Opening arguments are tomorrow. We'll be covering it live.

Sources: CNBC, AP News, NBC News, CBS News