Musk Loses OpenAI Trial, Vows to Fight On

CNBC reported Monday that a federal jury in Oakland, California, ruled against Elon Musk in his high-profile lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, finding that his legal claims arrived too late under the statute of limitations.

Jury Finds Musk Waited Too Long

The advisory jury deliberated for fewer than two hours before returning its verdict. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers adopted the finding immediately. The court determined Musk’s claims fell outside a three-year filing window. It did not weigh the underlying substance of his “breach of charitable trust” allegations. Musk’s legal team said it would take the fight to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The judge, however, signaled deep skepticism toward that path. She said she was prepared to dismiss any appeal on the spot, noting the evidence strongly supported the jury’s conclusion.

Musk Fires Back on X

Shortly after the verdict, Musk posted on his social platform X, dismissing the outcome as a “calendar technicality.” He insisted that Sam Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman had in fact diverted a charitable enterprise for personal gain. He framed the core dispute not as whether wrongdoing occurred, but when. Outside the courthouse, Musk attorney Marc Toberoff told reporters the case was fundamentally about protecting charitable institutions from exploitation. OpenAI’s lead counsel, William Savitt, pushed back directly. He described the ruling as substantive, not procedural, arguing Musk deliberately delayed filing in order to weaponize the lawsuit against a commercial competitor.

Background: A Founding Partnership Turned Bitter Rivalry

Musk was among OpenAI’s original founders in 2015, contributing roughly $38 million on the premise that the lab would pursue artificial intelligence for broad public benefit. He departed the board three years later. By 2024, he had filed suit, accusing Altman and Brockman of abandoning that founding mission as OpenAI expanded its for-profit operations. Microsoft, an early OpenAI investor, was also named as a defendant. The court dismissed the claims against Microsoft as well. A Microsoft attorney said the timeline had always been clear and welcomed the jury’s decision.

What Musk Wanted, and What Comes Next

Musk’s team had sought up to $180B in disgorgement of alleged ill-gotten gains. They also pushed for Altman and Brockman’s removal and sought to reverse OpenAI’s 2025 corporate restructuring. Musk specified that any recovered funds should flow back to the original charitable entity, not to him personally. With the 9th Circuit appeal now the likely next step, the legal battle between two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures appears far from finished.

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