A federal jury in Oakland dismissed all claims in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman on May 18, ruling unanimously that Musk waited too long to sue. The verdict came after less than 2 hours of deliberation following a 3-week trial. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers adopted the jury's findings, saying there was substantial evidence to support them.
Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in 2024, alleging they violated their commitment to keep the AI lab as a nonprofit. Musk helped start OpenAI in 2015, donated roughly $38 million, and left the board in 2018. The suit sought $134 billion in ill-gotten gains and demanded the removal of Altman and Brockman from leadership, along with unwinding OpenAI's 2025 restructuring that expanded its for-profit arm.
The jury ruled Musk's claims fell outside California's 3-year statute of limitations for breach of charitable trust and 2-year statute for unjust enrichment. OpenAI discussed a for-profit conversion as early as 2017 and created a for-profit arm in 2019, but Musk did not sue until 2024. The same statute-of-limitations grounds dismissed Musk's claim that Microsoft aided and abetted the alleged breach.
Key facts
- 01A federal jury in Oakland dismissed all claims in Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman after less than 2 hours of deliberation following a 3-week trial.
- 02Musk sought $134 billion in ill-gotten gains and alleged OpenAI violated its nonprofit mission after he donated roughly $38 million starting in 2015.
- 03The jury found Musk's claims untimely under California's 3-year statute for breach of charitable trust and 2-year statute for unjust enrichment.
- 04OpenAI raised $122 billion in March 2026 at an $850 billion valuation, while Musk's xAI merged with SpaceX in February at a $1.25 trillion valuation.
- 05U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers adopted the jury's findings and said there was substantial evidence supporting the verdict.
William Savitt, OpenAI's lead attorney, said the verdict was substantive, not technical. He told reporters the jury found Musk sat on his claims to use them as a weapon against a competitor who cannot compete in the marketplace. Microsoft issued a statement welcoming the decision and reaffirming its commitment to OpenAI.
“The jury deliberated less than two hours before ruling unanimously that Musk's claims fell outside California's 3-year statute of limitations for breach of charitable trust.”— Jaeden Schafer
Musk testified during the trial that he waited to sue because he believed reassurances from Altman over the years. He said he became fed up in 2023 after Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI's for-profit arm in exchange for intellectual property rights and a share of future profits. Musk told the court thinking someone might steal your car is not the same as someone stealing it.
OpenAI's lawyers argued Musk's donations were unrestricted and that restructuring was necessary to compete with Google DeepMind. They also presented evidence that Musk had floated a for-profit structure on the condition that he retain control, at one point pushing OpenAI to fold into Tesla. In 2023, Musk started xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February 2026 at a $1.25 trillion valuation.
The trial featured testimony from 6 tech billionaires, including Altman, Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Musk himself. Musk's attorney Steven Molo reserved the right to appeal, but Judge Gonzalez Rogers expressed skepticism, saying she was prepared to dismiss the appeal on the spot. Molo told reporters outside the courthouse that he interpreted the verdict as a narrow decision on technical legal issues and hoped an appeals court would reverse the judge's rulings on statute-of-limitations instructions.
Marc Toberoff, another of Musk's lawyers, told CNBC the case was at its core about preserving charities from exploitation. OpenAI and Microsoft legal teams exchanged hugs and back slaps as they departed the courtroom. None of the named billionaires appeared in court to hear the verdict.
The verdict comes at a critical time for both companies. OpenAI raised $122 billion in March 2026 at a valuation over $850 billion and is racing to advance its models while competing with Anthropic in the enterprise AI market. SpaceX confidentially filed for an IPO in April and could disclose its prospectus this week following the merger with xAI.
The timing lands days before SpaceX is expected to begin investor meetings ahead of its IPO. Musk's lawsuit had threatened to force OpenAI to return to a fully nonprofit structure and hand over control of its for-profit operations. The dismissal preserves OpenAI's current structure, which left a nonprofit foundation in charge of business operations while confirming large ownership stakes for outside investors including Microsoft.
Savitt told reporters OpenAI was pleased the jury saw the evidence as conclusively tilting in one direction. The case drew demonstrators to the Oakland courthouse protesting AI, wealth inequality, or both. OpenAI has not commented publicly beyond its attorney's statements to reporters.
The verdict removes a major legal overhang for OpenAI as it prepares to compete in the enterprise AI market and continue building consumer services around ChatGPT. For Musk, the loss closes a public chapter in his rivalry with Altman but leaves open the possibility of an appeal focused on whether the continuing-violation doctrine could extend the statute of limitations. Judge Gonzalez Rogers declined to include that doctrine in jury instructions, a decision Musk's legal team plans to challenge on appeal.
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