A California jury has unanimously dismissed Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, ruling that Musk had waited too long to bring his legal claims, rendering them effectively expired under the statute of limitations. The verdict, delivered after roughly two hours of deliberation on Monday, followed three weeks of testimony during which jurors reviewed internal correspondence and heard from Musk, Altman, and other prominent figures in the technology industry, including Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella. The case centred on Musk’s accusation that Altman had breached the terms of a non-profit contract by steering OpenAI toward a for-profit structure, after Musk had donated $38 million in the company’s early years on the understanding that it would develop artificial intelligence for the broad benefit of humanity.
Musk had alleged that Altman deceived him by accepting his financial contributions and then abandoning OpenAI’s founding mission, and that Microsoft had aided and abetted the company in its transition away from its non-profit origins. With the jury finding that the statute of limitations had lapsed on Musk’s claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment, it was not required to assess the substance of those claims at all. Musk’s remaining claims against Microsoft were also dismissed as a consequence of the jury’s findings. A Microsoft spokesperson said after the verdict that the facts and timeline in the case had “long been clear,” and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its partnership with OpenAI. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, described it as a “very fact-based decision,” adding that juries bring the common sense of the community to resolving factual disputes, and that the case, despite its unusual nature, had been handled appropriately by the panel.
Testimony during the trial had produced a sharp divergence in accounts between the two sides. On the first day of proceedings, Musk took the stand in a dark suit and told the jury the matter was straightforward, arguing that it was not acceptable to convert a charity for private gain, and warning that charitable giving as an institution would be undermined if such conduct were permitted. Altman, in his own testimony, offered a starkly different version of events, telling the jury that Musk had not only supported the idea of OpenAI becoming a for-profit business but had actively sought long-term control over it. Altman recalled a particularly tense exchange in which his co-founders had asked Musk what would happen to that control upon his death, to which Musk had suggested it might pass to his children. The pair had co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk departed in 2018 after his co-founders declined to hand him control of the organisation.
Following the verdict, Musk took to X to criticise the outcome, writing that the decision effectively created a licence to exploit charities provided the misconduct remained undisclosed long enough, and accusing the presiding judge of being an activist who had used the jury as cover. That post was subsequently deleted. Musk also vowed to appeal, describing the jury’s decision as a calendar technicality rather than a ruling on the merits of his case. His lawyer, Marc Toberoff, echoed that position outside the courthouse, saying the matter was far from resolved. However, legal experts expressed scepticism about the prospects of a successful appeal. Raffi Melkonian, an appellate lawyer who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, noted that appeals of jury verdicts are very hard to win, while Tobias said an appellate court would be very unlikely to overturn a fact-specific finding of this kind. OpenAI’s legal team and spokesperson were unequivocal in their assessment of the result, with lawyer William Savitt saying the lawsuit bore no relationship with reality, and a company spokesman describing the verdict as a victory both for OpenAI and for the justice system.
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