Jury Quickly Rules Against Musk in OpenAI Lawsuit

A jury in Oakland, California, rules against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI. After less than two hours of deliberations, the jury finds Altman and OpenAI not liable. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agrees with the advisory jury and dismisses claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment as untimely.

The verdict ends a dramatic chapter in the rivalry between the two tech billionaires, who were once close friends. Musk's lead counsel, Steven Molo, reserves the right to appeal. Judge Gonzalez Rogers says she is prepared to dismiss any appeal "on the spot," noting substantial evidence supports the jury's finding after the three-week trial.

Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in 2024, alleging they violated their commitment to keep the AI lab nonprofit. He helped found OpenAI in 2015 but left the board three years later. The court also dismisses claims against Microsoft, which invested in OpenAI as early as 2019, for aiding and abetting the alleged breach.

Musk sought to force OpenAI and Microsoft to surrender as much as $134 billion in "ill-gotten gains," remove Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from leadership, and unwind the company's 2025 restructuring. He said any money should return to "the OpenAI charity" rather than to him personally.

At the heart of the case is Musk's claim that OpenAI executives "stole a charity." He testified he donated roughly $38 million on the understanding that AI would benefit humanity. OpenAI's lawyers argue the donations carried no restrictions and that restructuring was essential to compete against Google DeepMind. Evidence shows Musk once floated a for-profit structure with him in control and even pushed to fold OpenAI into Tesla. In 2023 he launched rival xAI, now part of SpaceX. OpenAI portrays the suit as Musk's attempt to kneecap a competitor after failing to gain control.

Jurors heard testimony from Altman, Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Musk over three weeks. The verdict arrives days before SpaceX is expected to disclose its IPO prospectus, at a critical time for both billionaires as they advance toward major public offerings. In late March, OpenAI raised $122 billion at a valuation of over $850 billion.