OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Jury selection in Elon Musk's civil lawsuit against Sam Altman begins Monday in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California. The trial, presided over by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, is scheduled to run for four weeks.

Witnesses are expected to include Musk, Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, current and former OpenAI board members, and top AI researchers. In January, a judge ruled that the lawsuit could proceed to trial.

Musk, the 54-year-old CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, sued Altman and other co-defendants in 2024. He alleges that Altman and Greg Brockman violated OpenAI's original mission by shifting the company to a for-profit model to enrich themselves. Musk also alleges that Altman and others accepted his money, advice and time under the pretense of creating a public-spirited enterprise only to later allow people to cash in. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages and later estimated the restitution he demanded at $134 billion.

In a court filing on Monday, Musk bound himself to forego any money he wins from the case. He said he will not seek any award for himself, xAI, or any fund he controls as to his claims set for trial, and that any money won would be donated directly to an OpenAI charity.

Altman's side says Musk left OpenAI in 2018, did not provide the full $1 billion he had pledged, and agreed years ago to convert OpenAI into a for-profit company in order to raise capital. Altman's side also says Musk wanted OpenAI for himself and argued for folding it into Tesla. OpenAI says the lawsuit is part of a strategy of harassment aimed at slowing OpenAI down and advantaging xAI, Musk's rival AI startup.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research center, with Altman and Musk as founding co-chairs. Musk reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars in early funding. OpenAI completed a restructuring in October, with the for-profit organization still reporting to a nonprofit foundation.

"Can't wait to start the trial. The discovery and testimony will blow your mind," Musk posted online. Altman, the 41-year-old CEO of OpenAI, posted: "Really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months, Christmas in April!"