{"slug": "elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator", "title": "Elon Musk-Sam Altman judge sends OpenAI battle to mediator", "summary": "A federal judge appointed a mediator to resolve the legal dispute between Elon Musk and Sam Altman over OpenAI's restructuring, after a jury rejected Musk's claims that Altman betrayed OpenAI's founding principles. The mediator, retired judge R. David Proctor, will attempt to reach a settlement on remaining antitrust and harassment claims.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...**By Peter Blumberg, Bloomberg**\n\nThe judge overseeing the legal battle between [Elon Musk](/tag/Elon Musk/) and [Sam Altman](/tag/openai/) and their dueling AI startups enlisted a mediator to resolve the dispute.\n\n**RELATED: OpenAI proposes giving the US government a 5% Stake, Financial Times says**\n\nUS District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers late Wednesday issued an order appointing R. David Proctor, a retired federal judge in Alabama now in private practice, to try to work out a “just, speedy and inexpensive resolution.”\n\nThe appointment comes about a month and a half after a jury in federal court in Oakland, California, rejected claims by Musk that Altman and other leaders of OpenAI betrayed the startup’s founding principles as a charitable research organization by restructuring it as a for-profit entity.\n\nThe three-week trial did not address antitrust claims alleged by Musk and harassment counterclaims filed by Altman that are still pending.\n\nIn Wednesday’s order, Gonzalez Rogers directed both sides to engage with Proctor and to ensure “representatives with full settlement authority are present at all mediation sessions.”\n\nRepresentatives of OpenAI and Musk’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.\n\nMore stories like this are available on [bloomberg.com](https://www.bloomberg.com)\n\n©2026 Bloomberg L.P.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/07/07/musk-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator/", "published_at": "2026-07-07 16:30:36+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-07 16:32:08.776389+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Elon Musk", "Sam Altman", "OpenAI", "R. David Proctor", "Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers", "Bloomberg"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-sam-altman-judge-sends-openai-battle-to-mediator.jsonld"}}