OpenAI asks California, Delaware to investigate Musk's 'anti-competitive behavior' ahead of April trial

OpenAI on Monday sent a letter to the California and Delaware attorneys general, urging them to investigate "improper and anti-competitive behavior" by Elon Musk and his associates, as a high-profile trial nears between the two sides.

In the letter, OpenAI strategy chief Jason Kwon alleged that Musk has been working to undermine OpenAI through various "attacks" on the company, including by "coordinating his efforts" with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman co-founded the artificial intelligence lab in 2015 as a nonprofit, alongside several other researchers and executives. Musk left OpenAI in 2018, after trying to convince executives to merge it with Tesla. He later launched a competing company, xAI, and sued OpenAI in 2024, alleging that he was "assiduously manipulated" and "deceived" after the AI company explored converting to a for-profit entity. 

Jury selection for the trial is slated to begin on April 27, in the Northern District of California.

Kwon said in the letter that Musk's behavior could inhibit OpenAI's efforts to bring about artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a broad term for an AI system that rivals or exceeds human intelligence.

"These attacks are designed to take control of the future of AGI out of the hands of those who are legally obligated to pursue the mission of ensuring that AGI benefits all of humanity, and put it into the hands of competitors who lack mission-driven principles and spurn any responsibility for safety," Kwon wrote.

OpenAI has previously expressed related concerns about Musk's antics.

In January, the company sent a letter to investors and banking partners warning that it expects Musk to make "deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims" as his lawsuit against the AI lab heads to trial.

OpenAI said in that letter that Musk will likely make comments about the AI company that are not "grounded in reality" and are "typical of the harassment tactics he's previously deployed."

In the letter on Monday, OpenAI referenced a recent report from The New Yorker.

That report said Musk and his "intermediaries" had conducted extensive opposition research on Altman, tracking his flights and other movement, and that they and other company rivals circulated this research, as well as false allegations of sexual misconduct, by the OpenAI CEO.

Musk and the executive who runs his family office, Jared Birchall, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told CNBC on Monday that Musk and Zuckerberg are "turning to conduct and approaches that we do think are really highly questionable and sharply worthy of investigation."

He asked why "two of the top four wealthiest people, most powerful people in the world," are trying to stop a non-profit from moving forward.

OpenAI also referenced SpaceX's IPO in the letter, days after Musk's rocket company confidentially filed for what's likely to be a record offering.

The letter said that if Musk's legal efforts are successful, it will benefit xAI's Grok AI platform, which is being investigated globally "for generating sexually explicit deepfakes of women, including children, without their knowledge or consent, allegedly to boost usage of its services ahead of an upcoming IPO."

For years, Musk has accused both Delaware and California of bias against him or his companies, moving Tesla and SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas, and reincorporating his businesses, former Delaware corporations, in Nevada and Texas.

XAI is also suing California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging that the state's new AI data transparency law violates the company's rights to free speech and to protect trade secrets.

— CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

WATCH: The AI and tech titans weighing up IPOs in 2026