A federal jury in Oakland unanimously rejected Elon Musk's $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI, ruling Monday that he waited too long to sue.
Jury Rejects $150B Claim
The verdict, reported by NBC News, ended a three-week trial that had gripped Silicon Valley and threatened to redraw the artificial intelligence industry's power map.
Jurors needed less than two hours to clear Sam Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman and Microsoft of all claims, finding Musk's case barred by the statute of limitations.
Musk had given OpenAI roughly $38 million in its early years, then sued in February 2024, alleging Altman and Brockman "stole a charity" by spinning up a for-profit arm. He sought as much as $134 billion in disgorged gains plus Altman's removal.
On the witness stand, Musk testified for three days, saying he trusted Altman's reassurances until Microsoft's $10 billion investment in 2023 finally pushed him to file. Jurors disagreed, concluding he was aware of the alleged conduct as far back as 2021.
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Legal Experts Weigh In
Bill Savitt, an attorney for OpenAI, framed the case bluntly during opening arguments. "He waited too long to sue," Savitt told jurors, accusing Musk of trying "to gin up something to harm a competitor."
Vince Joralemon, a senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Center for Law and Technology, argued before the verdict that Musk had already scored a reputational hit on Altman regardless of the outcome.
Steven Molo, Musk's lead counsel, said the team was preserving the right to appeal but had not decided next steps. The jury's role was advisory, though Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers signaled she would likely adopt its findings.
OpenAI's IPO Path Clears
The ruling lands as OpenAI races toward public markets. The company recently raised $122 billion at a valuation north of $850 billion, and a loss could have unwound its 2025 restructuring entirely.
Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab. Musk exited the board in 2018, launched rival xAI in March 2023, and folded it into SpaceX earlier this year. The merged entity carries a $1.25 trillion valuation as Musk preps his own IPO roadshow, turning a personal feud into a multi-front race for AI dominance.
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