Elon Musk loses blockbuster OpenAI lawsuit as jury says Tesla billionaire filed too late
Swarajya News Staff May 19, 2026 | Updated 11:40 AM GMT+5:30
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A federal jury in California has dismissed Elon Musk's blockbuster lawsuit against OpenAI and chief executive Sam Altman, finding the tech billionaire waited too long to bring his claims. The nine-member advisory jury deliberated for less than two hours before unanimously ruling that Musk's 2024 lawsuit fell outside the statute of limitations. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers immediately adopted the verdict, bringing an abrupt end to a three-week trial in Oakland that captivated Silicon Valley.
Musk had sought up to £120 billion in damages and the removal of Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman from leadership, alleging they abandoned OpenAI's founding mission as a nonprofit to pursue profits. The Tesla boss, who invested £30 million in OpenAI after helping establish it in 2015, claimed executives "stole a charity" by creating a for-profit entity following Microsoft's investment. OpenAI's legal team countered that restructuring was necessary to compete in the costly artificial intelligence race and portrayed the lawsuit as an attempt to undermine a rival after Musk failed to gain control.
The court determined Musk's breach of charitable trust claims fell outside the three-year statute of limitations, meaning he should have filed before August 2021. Jurors heard testimony from tech heavyweights including Altman, Brockman, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Musk himself during the trial, which began on 27th April. The jury found that Musk knew or should have known about OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model years before launching his lawsuit, with the company arguing he was aware of internal discussions about alternative structures as early as 2017 and 2018.
Musk responded on X, calling the decision a "calendar technicality" and vowing to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. His lawyer Marc Toberoff told reporters the case was "about preserving charities from this kind of exploitation," whilst OpenAI lead attorney William Savitt described it as a vindication. Microsoft, also named as a defendant for allegedly aiding the trust breach, welcomed the jury's decision. The verdict clears a major legal obstacle for OpenAI as it moves towards a potential initial public offering later this year, with the company now valued at £670 billion.
Tags* technology
- Microsoft
- California
- Elon Musk
- Artificial Intelligence
- Lawsuit
- OpenAI
- Sam Altman
- Legal
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