Musk v Altman: Why the tech billionaires and former friends are now facing off in court

the musk-altman feud moves from x posts to a federal courtroom in oakland starting tuesday. a month-long trial will decide musk's claim that altman swindled him out of millions and betrayed openai's original non-profit mission. musk and altman co-founded openai in 2015, but musk left in 2018 after a reported power struggle. musk is asking for billions in "wrongful gains" to fund openai's non-profit arm and wants altman ousted. openai says musk is motivated by jealousy and regret for walking away. the jury of nine was sworn in monday under judge yvonne gonzalez rogers, who promised no special treatment for the billionaires. musk has also sued openai co-founder greg brockman and microsoft, which denies aiding the monetization scheme. colorful details have trickled out pre-trial, including private texts with mark zuckerberg about bidding on openai's ip. musk's own ai startup xai has lagged behind competitors. the trial could shape the race to artificial general intelligence — ai that surpasses human intelligence.