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Elon Musk has lost his high-profile case against OpenAI, with a California jury siding with CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman.
After less than two hours of deliberation on May 18, jurors unanimously ruled that Musk's claims were barred by the statute of limitations and that OpenAI and its leaders were not liable. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the verdict and dismissed the case.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and invested $38 million in its early years, accused Altman and Brockman of "stealing a charity" by shifting the nonprofit into a structure with a for-profit arm.
He sought damages, Altman's removal, and a reversal of the restructuring that turned OpenAI into one of the world's most valuable tech companies. "I was a fool," Musk told the court earlier this month. "I gave them free funding to create a startup."
OpenAI's attorneys argued Musk knew the organization would evolve and that he left in 2018 after failing to gain control.
They said his lawsuit was an attempt to sabotage a competitor, pointing to his launch of xAI in 2023. "The finding of the jury confirms that what this lawsuit was was a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor," attorney William Savitt said.
The three-week trial exposed tensions between Musk and Altman, including testimony that Musk wanted "total control" of OpenAI.
Altman countered that Musk was erratic and difficult to work with, saying, "Part of the reason we started OpenAI is we didn't think AGI could be under the control of any one person, no matter how good their intents are."
Witnesses included Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, and OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Sutskever confirmed in deposition that Altman had been accused of "a consistent pattern of lying," though Altman denied the claim.
Musk's attorney Steven Molo told jurors, "Sam Altman's credibility is directly at issue in this case. If you cannot trust him, if you don't believe him, they cannot win." Despite that, the jury sided with OpenAI.
OpenAI, now valued at more than $850 billion and preparing for a potential IPO, welcomed the decision. A Microsoft spokesperson added, "The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear, and we welcome the jury's decision to dismiss these claims as untimely."
Musk's legal team says they plan to appeal.
