OAKLAND — A federal jury in Oakland on May 18 delivered a unanimous verdict that dismissed Elon Musk’s 2024 claim against OpenAI as time‑barred, finding the tech entrepreneur waited too long to sue over the company’s transition away from its original nonprofit mission.
The short deliberation, under two hours, concluded an 11‑day trial that put the governance and purpose of one of the world’s most influential artificial intelligence developers under intense scrutiny. Musk had alleged that OpenAI, along with CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, misled him into contributing about US$38 million and later “converted” the organization into a for‑profit entity that accepted massive investments, notably from Microsoft. He accused the defendants of enriching insiders and abandoning the stated goal of developing AI for the benefit of humanity.
OpenAI defended its evolution, arguing Musk delayed raising the claim for years and that the company’s steps were lawful and necessary to scale research and deployments. In closing, the company’s attorney characterized Musk as the party more focused on financial opportunity, while Musk’s lawyer urged jurors to consider alleged credibility problems with OpenAI’s leadership.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers signaled that the statute‑of‑limitations issue was central and noted significant evidence supported the jury’s finding. Musk’s legal team said it reserved the right to appeal; the judge observed that overturning the verdict would be difficult because timeliness presented factual questions for jurors.
The case drew attention beyond the courtroom because it touched on broader debates about AI: who controls advanced systems, whether commercial incentives conflict with public‑interest goals, and how the technology should be governed as it spreads into education, healthcare, journalism and other sectors. Testimony frequently probed the motives and candor of top executives on both sides.
OpenAI, cofounded by Altman, Musk and others in 2015, restructured with a capped‑profit arm in 2019, two years after Musk left the board. The company now competes with rivals including Anthropic and xAI and is preparing for a potential initial public offering that analysts have speculated could reach a roughly US$1 trillion valuation. Microsoft has invested heavily in the partnership, with witnesses at trial citing more than US$100 billion in related commitments. Musk’s xAI and associated ventures remain linked to his SpaceX operations, which are also pursuing public markets.