A jury in California has rejected Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, bringing a swift end to one of the most closely watched legal battles in the technology industry.
The nine-member advisory jury took less than two hours to conclude that Mr Musk had waited too long to bring his case, filed in 2024. It found that his claims fell outside a three-year statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed and dismissed the case.
Mr Musk, an early backer of OpenAI who later broke with the company, had alleged that Mr Altman and the organisation violated a promise to keep OpenAI a non-profit dedicated to developing artificial intelligence for the public benefit.
The jury did not rule on the substance of that argument — whether OpenAI had in fact breached a charitable trust — because it found the claims had been brought after the legal deadline had passed.
Mr Musk had also sued Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest commercial backer, over investments totalling about $13bn made between 2019 and 2023. That claim was dismissed as well.
In a response after the verdict, Mr Musk described the decision as a “calendar technicality” and said he intended to appeal.
OpenAI has transformed from a research laboratory into one of the most valuable private companies in the world, a shift that has drawn scrutiny over how its non-profit origins square with its commercial operations. The verdict removes a significant legal threat, though an appeal could prolong the dispute.
The case had been watched closely as a test of how courts treat the founding commitments of organisations that began as non-profits before evolving into major commercial enterprises.