Elon Musk has suffered a major setback in his legal battle against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. A nine-member federal jury in Oakland unanimously ruled against Musk on the three claims that went to trial in the Musk vs OpenAI case. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the jury’s findings and dismissed the claims accordingly. However, the courtroom fight is far from over, as several other claims in Musk’s broader lawsuit still remain unresolved.
The two-week trial focused on Musk’s argument that OpenAI abandoned its original charitable mission and transformed into a profit-driven company. Musk had accused OpenAI leaders, including Altman and Greg Brockman, of improperly benefiting from the organisation’s restructuring.
The jury dismissed all three claims presented at trial. These included breach of charitable trust, unjust enrichment and a claim against Microsoft for aiding and abetting breach of charitable trust. The Microsoft-related claim was dismissed because it depended on the charitable trust allegation.
One of the biggest talking points from the verdict is that the court did not actually decide whether OpenAI’s leadership acted improperly. Instead, the claims were dismissed because they were considered legally untimely under the statute of limitations.
In simple terms, the jury concluded that Musk waited too long to file those particular claims. This is the “technicality” Musk later referred to in his reaction. The breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment claims were both ruled time-barred, meaning they could not proceed regardless of the underlying allegations.
Following the verdict, Musk strongly criticised the outcome and insisted that the central issues in the case were never truly examined in court. According to Musk, the judge and jury only ruled on a “calendar technicality” rather than determining whether wrongdoing occurred.
Musk claimed there is “no question” that Altman and Brockman enriched themselves by turning a charity into a for-profit operation. The only question is when they did it. He also warned that allowing such a precedent could hurt charitable giving in America. Musk maintained that OpenAI was originally founded “to benefit all of humanity” and said he plans to appeal the ruling before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality. There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is WHEN they did it! I will be filing an appeal with the Ninth Circuit, because creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America.OpenAI was founded to benefit all of humanity,” Elon Musk wrote in an X post after the verdict.
The lawsuit carried enormous financial and corporate implications. Musk had sought $134 billion in damages, the removal of Altman and Brockman from OpenAI, and a reversal of OpenAI’s 2025 for-profit recapitalisation.
Musk’s legal team argued that OpenAI raised support and resources under the image of a nonprofit AI lab dedicated to humanity, only to later evolve into a commercial AI giant closely tied to Microsoft. Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said after the verdict that “this war is not over” and accused OpenAI executives of enriching themselves “to the tune of billions.”
Despite the verdict, the larger Musk vs Altman case remains active. Judge Gonzalez Rogers told lawyers immediately after the decision that “we’ve got lots of claims left” and confirmed that the court will hold a status conference to determine the next steps.
The trial that just concluded only covered the charitable trust theory of Musk’s lawsuit. Other contract-related and federal claims included in Musk’s amended complaint were not part of this jury trial and are still pending. Musk’s lead lawyer, Steven Molo, has already preserved Musk’s right to appeal, meaning the legal clash between Musk and OpenAI is likely headed into another lengthy phase.
Source: India Today