OAKLAND, United States — Satya Nadella is expected to testify Monday in the high-profile lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against OpenAI, as a federal court examines the company’s transformation from a nonprofit research lab into one of the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence firms.
The trial, taking place in Oakland, California, has exposed years of internal disagreements among Silicon Valley executives, investors, and engineers who helped shape the modern AI industry before the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
Musk accuses OpenAI of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and misusing his estimated $38 million in founding contributions to create a commercial AI powerhouse now valued at more than $850 billion.
The billionaire entrepreneur is seeking a court order forcing OpenAI to return to its nonprofit structure — a decision that could significantly reshape the global AI competition involving firms such as Anthropic, Google, and China-based DeepSeek.
OpenAI has denied wrongdoing, arguing that Musk voluntarily left the organisation after failing to gain majority control and later became a direct competitor through his AI startup, xAI.
Nadella’s testimony is expected to focus on internal Microsoft communications from 2018 that prosecutors say reveal how the company evaluated OpenAI’s commercial potential before investing heavily in the startup.
According to court filings, Nadella questioned whether OpenAI’s research could help Microsoft gain a strategic advantage in artificial intelligence.
“Overall, I can’t tell what research they are doing and how if shared with us it could help us get ahead,” Nadella reportedly wrote in an internal email discussing OpenAI’s use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing platform.
The emails also referenced Musk’s belief that OpenAI was nearing major breakthroughs in artificial general intelligence, commonly known as AGI.
At the time, Microsoft executives reportedly remained cautious about the partnership, with Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott expressing concerns that OpenAI could shift to rival cloud providers such as Amazon.
OpenAI later created a for-profit subsidiary in 2019 to attract investment capital while retaining oversight through its nonprofit board structure.
That same year, Microsoft invested $1 billion into OpenAI. The company has since committed approximately $13 billion to the AI firm, making it one of OpenAI’s largest strategic backers.
The case is being overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is expected to make the final ruling after receiving recommendations from an advisory jury.
The trial has already featured tense testimony from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, whose personal notes from 2017 were presented in court as evidence by Musk’s legal team.
Brockman also testified that Musk allegedly threatened him after failing to secure full control of OpenAI during the company’s early years.
Meanwhile, Musk recently announced a partnership between SpaceX and Anthropic that will allow the AI company to use computing infrastructure at SpaceX’s largest data centre, intensifying competition in the rapidly expanding AI sector.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is expected to testify later this week as the closely watched trial enters its final phase.
