In a unanimous verdict, the jury in the Oakland, California, federal court said Musk had brought his case too late.
Published On 18 May 2026
A United States jury has ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence (AI) company not liable to the world’s richest person for allegedly straying from its original mission to benefit humanity.
In a unanimous verdict on Monday, the jury in the US District Court in Oakland, California, said Musk had brought his case too late. The jury deliberated for less than two hours.
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Musk slammed the verdict, calling it a “terrible precedent”.
The trial is widely seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and AI generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it.
Following the verdict, Musk’s lawyer said he reserved the right to appeal, but the judge suggested he may have an uphill battle because the question of whether the statute of limitations had run out before Musk sued was a factual issue.
“There’s a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot,” US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said.
Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI, the company that launched in 2015 and went on to create ChatGPT. After investing $38m in its first years, Musk in 2024 accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his top deputy, Greg Brockman, of shifting into moneymaking mode behind his back.
Musk said in a post on X, the social media platform he owns, that he will appeal the decision.
“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!”
Altman and OpenAI claimed that there was never a promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit forever. In fact, they argued, Musk knew this and filed his lawsuit because he could not have unilateral control over the fast-growing AI developer.
The trial began on April 27 and has shed light on the bitter falling-out between Musk and Altman as well as the beginnings of OpenAI, now a company valued at $852bn and moving towards what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history.
Repeated attacks
Musk had been seeking damages to be paid to the altruistic efforts of OpenAI’s charitable arm, as well as Altman’s ouster from the company’s board. Musk’s decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter rift between the former allies. Musk said he was responding to deceptive conduct that OpenAI’s board picked up on when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023, before he got his job back days later.
The verdict came after 11 days of testimony and arguments in which Musk’s and Altman’s credibility came under repeated attack.
Each side accused the other of being more interested in money than serving the public.
In his closing argument, Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, reminded jurors that several witnesses had questioned Altman’s candour or branded him a liar, and that Musk did not give an unqualified “yes” when asked during the trial if he was completely trustworthy.
“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly at issue,” Molo said. “If you don’t believe him, they cannot win.”
Musk accused OpenAI of wrongfully trying to enrich investors and insiders at the nonprofit’s expense, and failing to prioritise AI’s safety. He also contended that Microsoft knew all along that OpenAI cared more about money than being altruistic.
OpenAI countered that it was Musk who saw dollar signs, and that he had waited too long to claim that OpenAI had breached its founding agreement to build safe AI to benefit humanity.
“Mr Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but not in AI,” William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI, said in his closing argument.
OpenAI competes with AI companies such as Anthropic and xAI. Microsoft has spent more than $100bn on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.
Musk’s xAI is now part of his space and rocket company SpaceX, which is preparing an IPO that could exceed OpenAI’s in size.
