Musk v. Altman Fight Nears an Ego-Driven End: California Brief

Musk v. Altman Nears an Ego-Driven End

Sam Altman at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on April 30, 2026, in Oakland

Photographer: Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

As Musk v. Altman reaches its final stage in federal court in Oakland, the case has turned less on documentary proof than on credibility, courtroom combat, and the outsized personalities at the center of the fight, Isaiah Poritz reports.

Musk’s lawyers spent much of the past two weeks trying to paint Sam Altman as fundamentally untrustworthy, leaning on testimony from former OpenAI insiders tied to Altman’s 2023 ouster. But the case’s core legal questions—including whether Musk’s $38 million in donations created a charitable trust that Altman and Greg Brockman later breached—can’t ...