Elon Musk Faces Harassment Claim from OpenAI as Legal Battle Escalates

Tesla CEO Elon Musk must face OpenAI's harassment claim, according to a federal judge. The claim alleges Musk's public and legal attacks amount to a years-long harassment campaign. Musk is already suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for straying from the group's founding mission. The legal battle escalates as Musk threatens legal action against Apple over App Store rankings for his chatbot, Grok.

A federal judge in the U.S. has denied Elon Musk's bid to dismiss OpenAI's claims of a "years-long harassment campaign" by the Tesla CEO. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers means Musk must face allegations that he engaged in a series of public and legal attacks against OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 and later abandoned [1].

The legal battle between Musk and OpenAI has been ongoing since Musk sued the AI startup last year, accusing it of straying from its founding mission to develop AI for the good of humanity rather than for profit. OpenAI countersued Musk in April, accusing him of engaging in fraudulent business practices under California law [1]. Musk then asked for OpenAI's counterclaims to be dismissed or delayed until a later stage in the case, but the judge ruled that the company's allegations were legally sufficient to proceed [1].

Meanwhile, Musk has also been embroiled in another legal dispute. On Monday, Musk claimed that Apple is keeping AI companies other than OpenAI from reaching the No. 1 spot in its App Store, calling it "an unequivocal antitrust violation." Musk provided no proof of wrongdoing by Apple beyond pointing out that Apple has a partnership with OpenAI to use ChatGPT on its AI iPhones [2].

The escalating legal battles come as Musk has been on a publicity push for his chatbot, Grok 4, offering it for free and advertising its image and video generation tool, Grok Imagine. Musk has accused Apple of favoring OpenAI in the App Store rankings, which he claims is an antitrust violation [2].

The legal battles are not confined to OpenAI and Apple. Musk has also issued a stark warning to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, suggesting that OpenAI's rapid innovation, particularly with the launch of GPT-5, could drastically outpace Microsoft [3]. The warning underscores the mounting tension between the two tech giants, who share a complex partnership yet remain fierce competitors in the AI market.

The legal battles and escalating tensions highlight the intense competition in the AI sector. As OpenAI and Microsoft navigate their dual roles as partners and competitors, the landscape of AI development is rapidly evolving, with potential disruptions in market strategies and regulatory policies worldwide [3].

References:
[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/musks-bid-dismiss-openais-harassment-claims-denied-court-2025-08-13/
[2] https://sherwood.news/tech/without-providing-evidence-teslas-elon-musk-accuses-apple-of-favoring-openai/
[3] https://opentools.ai/news/elon-musk-sounds-alarm-openai-and-gpt-5-could-eat-microsoft-alive