![\"OpenAI](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2265992523-GI.JPG\" "\\"OpenAI")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit on March 11, 2026, in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
Anna Moneymaker<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
OpenAI has asked Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate allegations that Tesla executive Elon Musk and Meta executive Mark Zuckerberg are working together to undermine OpenAI\u2019s philanthropic efforts and boost Musk\u2019s ongoing lawsuit against the artificial intelligence behemoth and its chief executive, Sam Altman.<\/p>\n
Last month, OpenAI announced that it was investing $1 billion a year in Alzheimer\u2019s research<\/a>, developing child safety guardrails for its ChatGPT chatbot product, and other causes after it reorganized from a hybrid nonprofit model to a public benefit corporation last year.<\/p>\n Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015 with Altman but left the company in 2018 over disagreements and to start his own AI firm, xAI. He sued OpenAI and its financial backer Microsoft for over $130 billion in 2024<\/a>, claiming the two firms cheated him out of his earnings as an early investor in the years after OpenAI became one of the world\u2019s wealthiest companies. The lawsuit is set to go to trial later this month in a San Francisco federal court; OpenAI called his suit \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n Meta, under Zuckerberg, has also ventured into the AI world with its Llama language model.<\/p>\n OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon accused Musk and Zuckerberg of colluding as Musk sought to dig up incriminating information on Altman and \u201cattack\u201d OpenAI, according to a letter to Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings obtained by The Sacramento Bee.<\/p>\n OpenAI was first founded as a nonprofit in Delaware, before its restructuring in California last fall. Valued at almost $1 trillion, the company has begun flexing its muscle in California politics as legislators consider regulations for how to monitor interactions between children and its flagship ChatGPT companion bot.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Musk has repeatedly attempted \u2014 and failed \u2014 to wrest control of the nonprofit for his personal gain, such as seeking to merge the nonprofit with his own company Tesla, launching a takeover bid for the nonprofit\u2019s assets, and using litigation to attempt to derail OpenAI\u2019s recapitalization and interfere with the structure of the October Agreements, with trial commencing later this month,\u201d Kwon wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, it appears that Mr. Musk has reached new lows, as it has been just reported today that he is directing the circulation of false and wholly unfounded allegations in the press in a last-ditch effort to discredit OpenAI and its leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Kwon asked Bonta and Jennings to investigate any \u201canti-competitive\u201d and \u201cimproper\u201d behavior by Musk and his associates.<\/p>\n He cited a bombshell New Yorker story<\/a> published Monday that reported Musk hired investigators to compile opposition research on Altman, including tracking his flights and parties he attended, and interviewing a sex worker Altman supposedly hired, and chasing down rumors that Altman sexually pursued minors.<\/p>\n Bonta\u2019s office said it was reviewing the letter and declined to comment further. Spokespeople for Musk and Meta did not immediately respond.<\/p>\n In an interview, OpenAI global affairs chief Chris Lehane called Musk and Zuckerberg\u2019s alleged collusion a coordinated effort by \u201ctwo of the wealthiest, most powerful people in the world\u201d to not only undermine a competitor but to thwart efforts by OpenAI to advance its public interest mission.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Attorney General is obviously the top law enforcement officer in the state,\u201d Lehane said of Bonta.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conduct that has now been reported (by the New Yorker) is conduct that potentially really directly implicates that nonprofit…and by extension, the resources, assets, and money that is supposed to go to the public good, in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SAC_54_HA_241126_LiaRussell.jpg\")