One of the most high-profile legal battles in tech history is over. Elon Musk has lost his case against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. A federal jury unanimously rejected Musk's lawsuit on Monday after deliberating for less than two hours.
At the heart of the case was Musk's claim that OpenAI executives had abandoned the company's founding charitable mission in favour of personal profit. Musk testified he donated roughly $38 million to OpenAI on the understanding it would develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
Musk's team wanted the court to force OpenAI and Microsoft to give up as much as $134 billion in what they called ill-gotten gains and to remove Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from leadership.
The verdict came down to timing. The jury found that Musk had waited too long to bring his lawsuit. The time limits were strict: three years for a charitable trust claim and two years for a claim of unlawful enrichment. OpenAI created its for-profit arm in 2019. Musk did not sue until 2024.
Jurors also ruled Musk's charitable trust claims against OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman and Microsoft were barred by the statute of limitations. The claim against Microsoft was dismissed as well.
Lawyers for OpenAI argued that Musk's donations were not restricted in any way and that restructuring the business was the only way to compete against Google DeepMind. They also showed that Musk himself had once pushed for a for-profit structure on the condition that he retain control.
OpenAI's legal team painted the lawsuit as a competitive move. They portrayed it as Musk's attempt to kneecap a rival after he failed to gain control of the company.
The jury's verdict is advisory. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will make the final decision on liability. This means the case is not entirely closed yet. The judge could still rule differently.
The verdict comes at a critical moment for both sides. OpenAI recently raised $122 billion at a valuation of over $850 billion. Musk, meanwhile, is expected to begin meeting investors ahead of a SpaceX IPO following its merger with xAI in February.
For now, Altman and OpenAI have won the biggest legal battle the AI industry has seen.
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