Musk asks US judge to block OpenAI’s use of WilmerHale probe at trial
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and his artificial intelligence company xAI have asked a federal judge to block jurors at an upcoming trial from considering prominent law firm WilmerHale’s investigation into Sam Altman's ouster and subsequent return as OpenAI's CEO.
Musk sued OpenAI, Altman and others in 2024, accusing them of violating OpenAI’s founding mission as it restructures to a for-profit entity. Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI in 2015 but left in 2018 and now runs rival xAI, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Trial in the case is set to begin in April, and lawyers for Musk told, opens new tab the federal court in Oakland on Tuesday that any details or arguments concerning WilmerHale's review, opens new tab should be excluded under a court rule that lets judges keep out material that might cause unfair prejudice or mislead the jury.
xAI and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. OpenAI and the other defendants in the case have denied any wrongdoing.
Musk said in the filing that OpenAI, which commissioned the WilmerHale probe but has not released it publicly, planned to offer the jury a self-serving characterization of the report while blocking xAI from testing the thoroughness or independence of the investigation.
Letting OpenAI present the WilmerHale findings would invite jurors to accept a prominent law firm’s conclusions instead of making their own judgment, Musk said.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has a hearing set for March 13 on Musk's arguments and other evidence challenges ahead of the trial.
The case is Elon Musk et al v. Samuel Altman et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR.
For Musk: Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates, and Steve Molo of MoloLamken
For Altman and OpenAI: Jordan Eth of Morrison & Foerster, and William Savitt of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
By Faig Mahmudov
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