#MuskLosesLawsuitAgainstOpenAI Elon Musk's high-stakes legal battle against OpenAI has ended — for now — with a swift, unanimous jury verdict in favour of Sam Altman and the company he co-founded. The case, which sought up to $150 billion in damages, was dismissed on a narrow but decisive procedural ground: Musk waited too long to sue. A nine-member federal jury in Oakland, California deliberated for less than two hours before ruling that Musk's claims were barred by the statute of limitations. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the jury's advisory verdict and dismissed all claims.

Musk argued that OpenAI had betrayed its founding nonprofit mission to develop AI "for the benefit of humanity", instead transforming into a commercial powerhouse backed by billions from Microsoft and other investors. He demanded the unwinding of OpenAI's for-profit structure and the removal of Altman and President Greg Brockman. However, the jury did not reach the merits of this dispute, finding instead that Musk was aware of the company's commercial direction as early as 2017–2019, years before filing his lawsuit in August 2024.

The specific time limits were strict: three years for breach of charitable trust and two years for unjust enrichment, both of which had expired by the time Musk acted. OpenAI's lawyers also argued that Musk only filed the lawsuit after founding his own competing AI company, xAI, in what they called a "hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor". The swift dismissal removes a major legal overhang for OpenAI as it prepares for what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history, targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion. Musk, however, plans to appeal the verdict, calling the decision a "calendar technicality" and insisting the court never addressed the substance of his allegations.