Musk Loses OpenAI Jury Trial on Statute of Limitations Grounds
A California jury has unanimously dismissed Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, BBC Business reported Monday. The panel ruled that the Musk OpenAI lawsuit had expired before it was ever filed, ending a three-week trial without reaching the underlying claims.
Jury Finds Claims Had Lapsed
Jurors deliberated for roughly two hours before concluding that the legal window for Musk’s core claims had already closed. Those claims centred on breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. Because the statute of limitations had lapsed, jurors were not required to weigh the substance of either allegation.
OpenAI spokesman Sam Singer called the outcome a decisive win for the justice system. Lawyer William Savitt, who represented OpenAI at trial, said the jury concluded that Musk’s account of the company’s founding did not hold up to scrutiny.
Separately, remaining claims against Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella‘s company were dismissed as a matter of law, consistent with the jury’s findings. A Microsoft spokesperson said the facts and timeline had long been clear to the company.
What Musk Argued at Trial
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Sam Altman and others, donated roughly $38 million to the organisation during its early years. He alleged Altman had accepted those funds under a non-profit mandate and then quietly pivoted the company toward commercial profit, effectively looting a charity.
During testimony on the trial’s first day, Musk told the court the case was straightforward. He argued that allowing charities to be redirected for private gain would undermine philanthropic giving broadly.
Altman pushed back hard from the stand. He testified that Musk had not only supported a for-profit structure but had actively sought long-term control of OpenAI before departing in 2018 after co-founders declined his request.
Background to a Long-Running Feud
Musk left OpenAI’s board eight years ago following the dispute over governance. The public animosity intensified sharply after ChatGPT’s launch made Altman a global figure in artificial intelligence. In 2024, OpenAI published a detailed public timeline rebutting Musk’s characterisation of events, a rare move that reflected how far the relationship had deteriorated.
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias described the jury’s reasoning as a grounded, fact-based judgment, saying the panel applied ordinary community sense to a complex dispute.
Musk Vows to Appeal
Within hours of the verdict, Musk posted on X that the decision amounted to a licence for charity fraud if misconduct stays hidden long enough. He described the ruling as a calendar technicality rather than a judgment on the merits, and pledged to appeal.
His legal team confirmed the fight is not over. OpenAI’s lawyers said they are focused on advancing safe artificial intelligence development and consider the matter settled at the trial level.
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