Musk v. Altman: Charitable-Trust Trial Opens in Oakland with Nine-Juror Advisory Panel

Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers seated a nine-person advisory jury at the Ronald V. Dellums Courthouse in Oakland on 27 April 2026, opening Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and OpenAI. Of the twenty-six claims Musk filed in 2024, two remain at trial: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust. Musk is seeking damages of US$150 billion and asking the court to unwind OpenAI's October 2025 conversion to a public benefit corporation. Because the case is being tried in equity, Judge Gonzalez Rogers will issue the binding ruling after weighing the jury's advisory findings. The first phase is limited to liability; damages, if any, follow in a second phase. The ruling is expected in mid-May 2026.