A California jury has unanimously rejected Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, finding that Musk had waited too long to bring his claims to court.
The jury agreed that the statute of limitations had lapsed on Musk's accusations of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment, meaning jurors were not required to consider the substance of his allegations at all.
Musk had accused Altman of deceiving him by accepting his $38 million donation and then abandoning OpenAI's founding non-profit mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, as the organisation transitioned toward a for-profit structure. Microsoft, which Musk alleged had aided that transition, also saw its related claims dismissed following the jury's findings.
After spending three weeks hearing testimony from Musk, Altman and executives including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the jury took just two hours to reach its decision.
Altman told jurors during the trial that Musk had not only supported OpenAI's for-profit direction but had actively sought long-term control of the company — a claim that cut to the heart of the bitter public feud between the two men that has simmered since Musk departed the organisation in 2018.
Musk moved quickly to condemn the verdict on X, vowing to appeal and describing the outcome as a "calendar technicality." His lawyers echoed that position outside the courthouse.
Legal experts are sceptical the challenge will succeed.