OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk, Accuses Him of Harassment in Intensifying Legal Feud

The high-profile feud between OpenAI and its co-founder-turned-critic Elon Musk took a dramatic turn this week as the AI powerhouse filed a countersuit against the tech mogul. The countersuit, filed in a federal court in California, accuses Musk of orchestrating a sustained campaign of harassment against OpenAI, its leadership, and its mission. As the legal wrangling escalates, the case is quickly becoming a pivotal moment in the broader conversation about the future of artificial intelligence and its governance.

OpenAI, now led by CEO Sam Altman, claims that Musk’s actions are not only damaging the company but also threatening the broader public interest. In the court filing submitted Wednesday, OpenAI’s attorneys painted a picture of a calculated effort by Musk to destabilize the company following his departure and subsequent launch of a rival AI venture, xAI, in 2023.

“OpenAI is resilient,” the company said in its statement, “but Musk's actions have taken a toll. Should his campaign persist, greater harm is threatened—to OpenAI's ability to govern in service of its mission, to the relationships that are essential to furthering that mission, and to the public interest.”

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but exited the firm before it became a global AI leader, has been a vocal opponent of the company’s shift toward a for-profit model. He filed a lawsuit last year claiming that OpenAI had betrayed its original non-profit mission of ensuring AI development would serve humanity rather than corporate gain. However, OpenAI contends that its structure as a “capped-profit” organization is necessary to attract the vast capital required to remain competitive in the ever-intensifying AI race.

In their latest legal response, OpenAI’s team described Musk’s conduct as a “malicious campaign” that included online attacks broadcast to his more than 200 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), frivolous legal claims, demands for corporate records, and even an unsolicited takeover bid valued at $97.4 billion. The company called this bid a “sham,” designed to undermine their operations.

“Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI,” the countersuit alleged.

In response, Musk’s legal team defended the attempted acquisition, saying OpenAI’s board was obligated to consider it. “Had OpenAI’s Board genuinely considered the bid as they were obligated to do, they would have seen how serious it was. It's telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI’s assets allegedly ‘interferes’ with their business plans,” said Marc Toberoff, Musk’s attorney.

OpenAI also took to social media, posting on X: “Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit.”

The countersuit aims to halt Musk’s ongoing efforts and seeks damages for what OpenAI claims is reputational and operational harm already inflicted by Musk’s attacks. At the center of this legal battle is not just the future of OpenAI, but the question of who should control the direction of AI innovation at a time when the technology is rapidly advancing and influencing every sector of the global economy.

The case is scheduled for a jury trial in spring 2026, and its outcome could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI governance. The $40 billion capital raise that OpenAI is pursuing may hinge on its ability to complete the transition to its for-profit structure before the end of this year, a point that raises the stakes in the lawsuit even further.

Meanwhile, the global tech community is closely watching the feud unfold, with some industry experts seeing it as a proxy battle over how AI innovation should be structured: as a public good or a competitive commercial endeavor.

For now, OpenAI continues to push forward with its development agenda, but the shadow of this legal storm looms large over its operations. With two of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures locked in a bitter courtroom battle, the future of ethical AI, business strategy, and technological control is up for debate in more ways than one.