Tuesday, May 19, 2026 - A U.S. jury on Monday, May 18, ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence company not liable to Musk for having allegedly strayed from its original mission to benefit humanity.
In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Oakland, California
federal court said Musk had brought his case too late.
The jury deliberated less than two hours.
Following the verdict, Musk's lawyer said he reserved the
right to appeal, but the judge suggested he may have an uphill battle because
whether the statute of limitations ran out before Musk sued was a factual
issue.
"There's a substantial amount of evidence to support the
jury's finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot,"
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said.
In his 2024 lawsuit, Musk accused OpenAI, its Chief
Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman of manipulating him into
giving $38 million, then going behind his back by attaching a
for-profit business to its original nonprofit and accepting tens of billions of
dollars from Microsoft and other investors.
Musk called the OpenAI defendants' conduct "stealing a
charity."
OpenAI was founded by Altman, Musk and several others in
2015. Musk left its board in 2018, and OpenAI set up a for-profit business the
next year.
The verdict followed 11 days of testimony and arguments
where Musk's and Altman's credibility came under repeated attack.
Each side accused the other of being more interested in
money than serving the public.
In his closing argument, Musk's lawyer Steven Molo reminded
jurors that several witnesses questioned Altman's candor or branded him a liar,
and that Altman did not give an unqualified yes when asked during the trial if
he was completely trustworthy.
"Sam Altman's credibility is directly at issue,"
Molo said. "If you don't believe him, they cannot win."
Musk accused OpenAI of wrongfully trying to enrich investors
and insiders at the nonprofit's expense, and failing to prioritize AI's
safety. He also contended that Microsoft knew all along that OpenAI cared more
about money than being altruistic.
OpenAI countered that it was Musk who saw dollar signs, and
that he waited too long to claim OpenAI breached its founding agreement to
build safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.
"Mr. Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but
not in AI," William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI, said in his closing
argument.
OpenAI competes with AI companies such as Anthropic and xAI,
and is preparing for a possible initial public offering that could value the
business at $1 trillion.
Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership
with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.
Musk's xAI is now part of his space and rocket company
SpaceX, which is preparing a IPO that could exceed OpenAI's in size.
0 Comments