Sam Altman is suddenly being confronted by the ghosts of OpenAI’s past, present and future.

On Monday, jury selection began in Elon Musk’s civil suit against Altman, a court battle that could challenge OpenAI’s recent transformation into a for-profit entity and potentially oust Altman from his job. Meanwhile, the ChatGPT-maker on Monday also seriously redefined the terms of its ongoing relationship with Microsoft, while reports surfaced that OpenAI is partnering with chipmaker Qualcomm to develop the architecture for the smartphone it’s betting its future on. Critically, behind each headline looms the specter of OpenAI’s expected initial public offering.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

In OpenAI’s early days as a non-profit research lab, co-founder Musk footed much of the bill, providing some $38 million of seed money between 2016 and 2020, according to court documents. Then came infighting and a power struggle; emails from 2017 show that Musk’s funding became somewhat contingent on commitments that OpenAI would remain a non-profit (lest he be “a fool … essentially providing free funding” for others to build a startup) and that he be named CEO.

By 2018, Musk officially left the company. A year later, Microsoft became the primary financial backer of OpenAI, investing $1 billion while becoming its exclusive cloud provider. In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman, fellow company leaders and Microsoft, alleging they used his funds while betraying the original non-profit goal. He is seeking $150 billion in damages and wants OpenAI to revert to a non-profit with Altman removed from power.

For its part, OpenAI called the lawsuit “baseless” and a “jealous bid to derail a competitor” in a post Monday on X, Musk’s social media platform. In case you forgot, in 2023, Musk started the very much for-profit xAI, now a subsidiary of SpaceX.

Microsoft, which has invested some $13 billion into the AI firm, had its own qualms about the for-profit transition. After a long legal battle, the Windows-maker last year secured some guarantees in OpenAI’s future, though a joint statement on Monday loosened some terms:

• OpenAI will now be able to sell its services and products across any cloud provider, not just Microsoft. Broader access has been a key selling point for rival Anthropic, and the amendment clears the way for a $50 billion investment by Amazon.
• In turn, Microsoft will stop paying a revenue share to OpenAI, while OpenAI’s revenue share to Microsoft will have new caps through 2030. Microsoft is retaining its 27% stake in the company.

Smartless: In the statement, the company said the agreement was designed to “simplify our partnership” and provide “flexibility.” OpenAI is already figuring out its future; a note from respected tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the company is working with Qualcomm and MediaTek to develop the iPhone-killer that could replace traditional apps with AI agents. Shares of Qualcomm jumped about 1% on Monday, while Apple’s shares fell 1.2%.

Need a lift to JFK?

On Monday, Joby Aviation announced its completion of the first point-to-point electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) in New York City, part of a 10-day flight campaign. The aircraft flew from John F. Kennedy International Airport to land at sites across the Big Apple’s helicopter network. The goal is to connect the airport to Manhattan in under 10 minutes, which will no doubt appeal to anyone who’s sat in traffic during the hour-plus car ride or schlepped their luggage onto the multiple modes of public transportation typically needed to make the trip.

“This cutting-edge aircraft is exactly the kind of innovation we have a responsibility to test, understand and help shape for the good of the region and the public,” Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole said in a statement.

The aircraft are quieter than helicopters and come with zero emissions. Joby’s stock gained 6.23% Monday, following the news.

If You Can Make It Here …

The concrete jungle is just one place where Joby’s job dreams are coming true. Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and the Federal Aviation Administration announced that eight proposals spanning 26 states had been selected for its Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Joby was also named a partner for projects in Texas, Utah, Florida and North Carolina.

As Joby’s founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in February, this year will mark an inflection point for the company as it determines how and when it will actually go to market. It’s been working aggressively toward commercializing electric air taxis:

• Joby’s in the final stages of the FAA’s aircraft type certification. Last month, the company began flight testing its first FAA-conforming aircraft for Type Inspection Authorization, a major step towards FAA pilots being able to visit the company’s facility in Marina, California, and conduct the tests required for the aircraft to be used commercially.
• The company is partnering with Uber to eventually allow customers to book air taxis in the Uber app. It’s expecting to welcome its first passengers in Dubai later this year. Joby also has partnerships with Delta Air Lines and Toyota.

Fierce Competition: Joby isn’t the only company trying to make cars fly. Archer Aviation, a major rival, sued Joby in February, alleging that Joby deceived regulators and investors by downplaying its reliance on Chinese suppliers.

“Video podcast” sounded like an oxymoron not so very long ago. Now, talk show royalty Oprah Winfrey’s doing a deal with Amazon, suggesting this may be more than a fad.

Winfrey will soon start recording a twice-a-week video pod after signing a multiyear deal with the tech giant on Monday. “The Oprah Podcast” will hit Amazon’s suite of services (Prime Video, Music, Audible and Fire TV) in July. Amazon will also get its hooks into Winfrey’s popular book club and her talk show.

The initiative has a head start since Winfrey already gets millions of views per episode on her podcast’s YouTube channel, which she started in late 2024.

Everybody Gets a Podcast!

Winfrey, whose 25-year show included everything from provocative topics to Tom Cruise jumping up and down on a sofa and a meme-spawning car giveaway, could bring serious cred to Amazon’s push into creator-led podcasting. Last summer, Amazon took a sledgehammer to Wondery, the podcast company it acquired in 2020 for $300 million:

• Wondery’s audio shows, like “Dr. Death,” were shoved into Audible while its video pods, like Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert,” were spun into Creator Services. Then Amazon struck a deal, reportedly worth $100 million, for Travis Kelce’s show to come to Creator Services.
• Amazon has since activated around Kelce’s “New Heights” pod in ways that show podcasting’s potential for the e-commerce leader, which has sold show-themed merchandise on its main site and featured Kelce’s promotion of the “Harry Potter” series on Audible. Amazon also hosted a brand-sponsored Super Bowl party for the show.

Another Video Pivot: Podcasters beat their platforms to the punch by posting video versions of their podcasts on YouTube, which last year said video pods brought in more than 1 billion monthly viewers. Audio streamers are playing catch-up. Spotify, which reports earnings tomorrow, said last year it had more than half a million video pods watched by nearly 400 million users. Apple recently updated its app to support video podcasts, too, only six years after Spotify. There are risks, though: A Reddit search reveals Spotify users begging for a way to turn off videos. The platform rolled out a setting to do just that earlier this month.