AI heavyweights’ court battle could unravel the entire sector

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-04-28T02:03:05Z","datePublished":"2026-04-28T02:03:05Z","description":"Elon Musk is suing to make OpenAI a non-profit again and remove Sam Altman as its CEO. If he succeeds, the complex web of deal between the world’s AI companies could fall apart.","headline":"AI heavyweights’ court battle could unravel the entire sector","keywords":"AI, OpenAI, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Microsoft, Courts, Opinion, Just in, For subscribers","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephen Bartholomeusz","jobTitle":"Senior business columnist","url":"/by/stephen-bartholomeusz-h0yjtd"}],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/ai-heavyweights-court-battle-could-unravel-the-entire-sector-20260428-p5zrkw.html","@type":"WebPage"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"1322.6666666666665","url":"https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1.0347%2C$multiply_0.7025%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/4c1f88e23d373c99225176707221b778316c7133","width":"744"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".paywall"}],"publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"628","url":"https://www.smh.com.au/metro-assets/assets/static/smh.png","width":"1200"},"url":"https://www.smh.com.au"},"isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","productID":"smh.com.au:webonly"}}{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/business","name":"Business"},"position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies","name":"Companies"},"position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/topic/artificial-intelligence-5ui","name":"AI"},"position":3}]}AdvertisementBusinessCompaniesAIOpinionAI heavyweights’ court battle could unravel the entire sectorStephen BartholomeuszSenior business columnistApril 28, 2026 — 12:03pmApril 28, 2026 — 12:03pmSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.ShareAAAThe face-off in court this week between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman has the potential to not just neuter OpenAI and its ambitions, but send financial shockwaves throughout the artificial intelligence ecosystem.The case brought by Musk, which opened with jury selection in a courtroom in Oakland, California on Sunday night (AEST), centres on Open AI’s conversion last year from a non-profit entityinto a for-profit company.Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman, donating about $US38 million ($53 million) to establish a vehicle for pursuing artificial intelligence that could be shared altruistically with the world, putting the public good ahead of any commercial interests.Elon Musk and Sam Altman have been at loggerheads for years. Now their battle is coming to a head in court.Bloomberg, APThe launch of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022 ignited the AI boom, and kicked off a multitrillion-dollar race for AI supremacy.AdvertisementWhen a partnership with Microsoft, which invested $US13.75 billion within a complicated set of arrangements to help develop and commercialise OpenAI’s technology, proved insufficient to fund the group’s near-insatiable need for capital to finance Altman’s ambitions, it opted for…

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