As lawsuits pile up and Wall Street speculation around a blockbuster public listing grows louder, OpenAI is quietly assembling one of the most formidable legal lineups in corporate America.
The artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT has turned to an expanding network of heavyweight U.S. law firms to navigate an increasingly tangled battlefield of investor negotiations, copyright claims, monopoly accusations and courtroom clashes with rivals — including billionaire Elon Musk.
The latest legal victory arrived this week when lawyers representing OpenAI and chief executive Sam Altman succeeded in defeating a lawsuit brought by Musk. The case accused the company of abandoning the nonprofit principles it was founded upon. The ruling removed a major cloud hanging over a potential IPO that industry insiders believe could emerge as early as September.
At the center of OpenAI’s legal machinery sits Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a firm that has become deeply embedded in the company’s biggest corporate moves since the explosive arrival of ChatGPT in 2022. The firm has already steered OpenAI through massive funding rounds backed by companies such as Microsoft and NVIDIA.
Reports earlier this year suggested OpenAI had also selected Wachtell alongside Cooley LLP to prepare for an eventual stock market debut.
But the legal pressure surrounding OpenAI extends far beyond corporate deals.
Wachtell partner William Savitt is also helping defend the AI company in litigation tied to Musk’s AI venture, xAI. That lawsuit accuses OpenAI and Apple of unfairly dominating parts of the generative AI and smartphone ecosystem.
In another dispute, xAI alleged OpenAI improperly used confidential information to accelerate its AI development efforts. To counter those claims, OpenAI enlisted lawyers from Munger, Tolles & Olson.
OpenAI has rejected all allegations raised by Musk’s companies and has argued that the repeated lawsuits amount to a campaign of harassment through litigation.
Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins has emerged as another major adviser to the company, handling financing matters including a multibillion-dollar revolving credit arrangement completed in 2024.
The same firm is also part of OpenAI’s defense team in the widening wave of copyright lawsuits brought by authors, comedians and media organizations who accuse AI firms of training systems on protected material without permission.
Other firms assisting OpenAI in those battles include Morrison Foerster and Keker, Van Nest & Peters. OpenAI maintains that its use of training material falls within the boundaries of fair use protections under copyright law.
The company is also confronting an unusual lawsuit from Nippon Life Insurance Company, which claims ChatGPT effectively engaged in unauthorized legal practice by helping a former claimant generate large volumes of court filings. OpenAI, represented in that case by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, has argued that ChatGPT is a software tool — not a licensed attorney.
Away from the OpenAI disputes, another legal headline surfaced in Washington this week involving Matthew Schwartz, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell who has been nominated by President Donald Trump for a seat on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Schwartz disclosed in ethics filings that he earned more than $7 million last year while serving at Sullivan & Cromwell, where he also acted as Trump’s personal lawyer. During Senate confirmation proceedings, he pledged to step aside from cases connected to his previous work involving the president.
