The success or failure of OpenAI’s trillion-dollar IPO will be decided by an Oakland jury

Source: Global Market Report

During the trial of the legal dispute with Elon Musk, Sam Altman has been sitting in the front row of the gallery for several consecutive days, highlighting the significance of this case: it could either clear the path for OpenAI's trillion-dollar IPO, or leave the CEO disgraced and forced to step down.

The nine jurors could deliver a verdict as early as Monday, when Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether to revoke OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model, order it to pay $134 billion in damages, or even remove Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman from their positions.

Previously, OpenAI had undergone multiple rounds of challenging structural talks with its largest shareholder, Microsoft, and experienced the temporary removal of Altman as CEO. If OpenAI prevails in this lawsuit, it would completely clear the last hurdle for its plans to go public within a year and aim for a trillion-dollar or higher valuation.

If OpenAI loses, the future of this tech company will descend into uncertainty.

Jill Horwitz, a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, said the case concerns OpenAI's original founding intent and public interest, involving many serious legal issues.

However, she also admitted that the power and interest struggle between the two billionaires has diverted attention from and obscured the legal core that truly matters—the public interest.

The trial not only examines all kinds of documents and legal rights and responsibilities retained since OpenAI's founding in 2015, but also sees both sides trading accusations, with attacks on Musk for being arrogant, questioning Altman's character, and accusing Brockman of being self-serving.

After three weeks of presenting evidence, Musk's lawyer Steven Molo concluded their case on Thursday. He directly pointed out that Brockman holds $30 billion in personal OpenAI equity without ever having invested a penny, calling him an insider profiteer; he also sharply criticized Altman, as CEO, for being involved in many deals in which he openly acknowledged existing conflicts of interest.

The trial revealed that Altman holds more than $2 billion in shares across several companies that do business with OpenAI. This week, the U.S. House Oversight Committee, led by Republicans, has launched an investigation into Altman's potential conflicts of interest.

Molo told the jury: “This case is directly about the personal credibility of Sam Altman ... If you do not trust him, if you do not believe him, OpenAI loses—it's as simple as that.”

OpenAI's lawyers argued that Musk’s lawsuit was simply motivated by jealousy and resentment. He left OpenAI’s board of directors as early as 2018 and once claimed that the startup could never succeed without him, but ChatGPT’s meteoric rise strongly contradicted his prediction. Today, OpenAI is valued at $852 billion, while Musk’s xAI lab has struggled to keep up with its progress.

OpenAI’s counsel William Savitt summarized Musk’s statements as: “All the credit belongs to me, Elon Musk.”

He added: “Musk may have a Midas touch in some fields, but not in the field of artificial intelligence. The facts show that, to make a difference in AI, all Musk can do now is take matters to court.”

OpenAI's side also contended that Musk was not fundamentally against OpenAI becoming a for-profit company, as long as he controlled the company's power. At one stage, he even proposed to merge OpenAI into his own Tesla company.

In order to win over other co-founders, Musk gave them Tesla cars worth $262,400.