Elon Musk’s ongoing legal cage match with Sam Altman’s OpenAI has taken an interesting turn after the tech titan’s legal team stated that Musk “does not use a computer” in a recent court filing.
The Independent reports that Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur known for his ventures in electric vehicles, space exploration, and AI, is engaged in a protracted legal battle with OpenAI, the AI research company he co-founded in 2015. As part of the ongoing lawsuit, Musk’s lawyers made a curious assertion in a court filing this week, stating that the tech mogul “does not use a computer.”
This claim, however, seems to be at odds with Musk’s own social media presence. The billionaire has shared several posts on X that directly reference his laptop usage. In December 2024, Musk shared a picture of his laptop, writing, “This is a pic of my laptop. A guy in Germany gave me this cool sticker, so I don’t want to upgrade it and lose the sticker.” Just a month ago, Musk posted what appeared to be the same laptop in response to a question about his gaming setup, stating, “still using my ancient PC laptop with the @DOGE sticker made long ago by a fan.”
Furthermore, in July 2021, Musk mentioned on X that he used a “PC desktop” in addition to a Mac. Photos of his office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington also appeared to show a gaming PC, according to a report by Wired.
The claim made by Musk’s legal team was part of a filing related to a lawsuit brought by Musk and his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, against Sam Altman and OpenAI. Musk alleges that OpenAI breached its contract by developing AI to benefit Microsoft instead of adhering to its founding agreement to use AI “for the benefit of humanity.” The filing came in response to OpenAI’s accusations that Musk and xAI were not complying with the discovery process.
Musk and Altman have been at odds since the launch of OpenAI, which Musk helped found as a nonprofit organization in 2015. However, as the company became more commercial, Musk grew dissatisfied and left its board in 2018. OpenAI went on to become a pioneer in the field of AI with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, while Musk established his own for-profit AI company, xAI.
The legal battle between the two tech giants has escalated, with Musk initially suing OpenAI for breach of contract, claiming that the company betrayed its founding mission as a nonprofit. Although a judge denied Musk’s request to block OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company, she agreed to hold a trial, which is set to take place next year. In a separate lawsuit, OpenAI has accused Musk of unfair competition and interference with its business relationships amidst their ongoing legal dispute.
Read more at the Independent here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
