one year on
Musk withdraws lawsuit against OpenAI without explanation
Elon Musk drops his February suit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission, with court filings saying no reason was given for the dismissal.
Elon Musk has abruptly dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI, filed in February, which accused the company and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of betraying its original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity. Court filings show Musk’s lawyers asked a California judge on Tuesday to dismiss the suit. No reason was given.
The withdrawal follows OpenAI’s publication of emails from Musk. The suit had claimed OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft turned it into a ‘closed-source de facto subsidiary’ of the tech giant.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and left three years later. He now runs xAI, a rival startup that raised $6 billion last month.
The record
The company previously described Musk's complaint as 'contrived' and argued no founding agreement or contract existed.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
Musk did refile the lawsuit in federal court in August 2024, reasserting similar claims. The case was eventually dismissed with prejudice in late 2025, but Musk continues to criticize OpenAI publicly.