A federal jury in Oakland, California, handed down a significant ruling against Elon Musk on Monday, dismissing his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on the grounds that the claims were made outside the legal timeframe. Musk, visibly resolute, attributed the loss to what he termed a “calendar technicality” and vowed to challenge the verdict.
The decision came after the jury, as reported by CNBC, needed less than two hours to determine that Musk’s legal pursuit against the AI firm, its leader Sam Altman, and Microsoft was filed too late. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers endorsed the jury’s conclusion, marking a notable setback for Musk in his ongoing dispute with former AI collaborators.
Crucially, the court did not delve into Musk’s key accusation that OpenAI breached its promise to function solely as a nonprofit organization. Instead, the judgment was strictly about timing, ruling that Musk’s allegations of charitable trust violations were lodged beyond the three-year statute of limitations allowed for these claims.
In a swift reaction to the outcome, Musk took to his social network X to dismiss the ruling as a mere technicality. “There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is WHEN they did it!” he asserted.
Both Musk and his legal team promptly indicated their intention to appeal the verdict to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Steven Molo, Musk’s attorney, mentioned the possibility of appealing directly to Judge Gonzalez Rogers. However, the judge expressed doubts about this approach, noting, “There’s a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s finding,” as the three-week trial came to a close.
Outside the courthouse, Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, emphasized the broader implications of the case. “At its core, this is about safeguarding charities from such exploitation. If they get away with it, they shouldn’t,” he stated to reporters, underscoring the larger stakes involved.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Musk lawyer Marc Toberoff framed the case in broader terms. “At its core, is about preserving charities from this kind of exploitation. If they get away with it, they shouldn’t,” he told reporters.
The lawsuit, filed by Musk in 2024, accused Altman and OpenAI of abandoning an alleged agreement to maintain the artificial intelligence laboratory as a nonprofit entity. Musk was instrumental in founding OpenAI in 2015 but departed from the board three years later. He testified during the trial that he donated approximately $38 million to OpenAI based on the understanding that the organization would develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than individual profit.
Microsoft, an early investor in OpenAI since 2019, was also named as a defendant in the suit. Musk claimed the software giant aided and abetted the AI startup in its alleged breach of charitable trust. The court dismissed the claims against Microsoft as well.
OpenAI’s lead attorney, William Savitt, characterized the verdict as substantive rather than technical. “It says: You brought your claims too late, and you did it because you were sitting on them to use them as a weapon of a competitor who can’t compete in the marketplace. And so we’re delighted to get it,” he told reporters. OpenAI and Microsoft legal teams celebrated the outcome as they left the downtown Oakland courthouse.
An attorney for Microsoft released a statement welcoming the decision. “The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear, and we welcome the jury’s decision to dismiss these claims as untimely. We remain committed to our work with OpenAI to advance and scale AI for people and organizations around the world,” the statement read.
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Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for – News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.
