Elon Musk used his X platform on Monday, April 28, 2026, to amplify a New Yorker investigation into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — on the same day Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI headed to a jury trial in federal court in Oakland, California.
Musk paid to boost an April 6 post from journalist Ronan Farrow, a co-author of the New Yorker article, which examines what it describes as Altman’s allegedly deceptive behavior. Users scrolling X on Monday reported seeing the post with a pop-up indicating it had been boosted by @elonmusk. WIRED independently verified the pop-up. Musk also reposted the article from his own account, writing: “Calling him ‘Scam’ Altman is accurate. This is very much worth reading.”
X’s Boost feature allows subscribers to pay an additional fee to amplify posts. However, the boosted post did not carry an “ad” label in users’ feeds, though post options included choices such as “report ad.” X’s own FAQ states that boosted posts must self-identify as advertisements and comply with the platform’s ad policies. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED.
Musk’s lawsuit names OpenAI, Altman, company president Greg Brockman, and Microsoft as defendants. The suit alleges that OpenAI strayed from its founding nonprofit mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who invested tens of millions of dollars in the organization, argues his investment was not used as intended. OpenAI has countered that Musk understood the company would need to become a large commercial business to achieve its goals.
The trial began Monday with jury selection. Several potential jurors indicated they held unfavorable views of Musk or of AI broadly. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: WIRED