Elon Musk defeated in legal battle vs OpenAI; timing of lawsuit filing becomes major factor in ruling

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Elon Musk suffered a legal setback after a federal court ruled in favor of OpenAI, with the timing of Musk’s lawsuit emerging as one of the key factors behind the decision.

A federal jury in Oakland, California found OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and the company itself not liable for allegations that they violated founding agreements and abandoned OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission.

The case largely revolved around whether Musk filed the lawsuit within California’s legal deadline for such claims.

OpenAI argued that Musk had already known as early as 2017 that the company was considering a for-profit structure, making his 2024 lawsuit fall outside the statute of limitations, or the allowable filing period under state law.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers later agreed with the jury’s findings and dismissed Musk’s claims, saying there was substantial evidence supporting the decision.
The verdict was delivered after less than two hours of jury deliberation.

Following the ruling, Musk said the case was decided on what he described as a technicality tied to timing rather than the actual merits of the dispute.

“Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality,” Musk wrote on X.

“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!” he added.

Musk also announced plans to appeal the decision before the Ninth Circuit.

“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,” Musk said.

The billionaire entrepreneur further emphasized that “OpenAI was founded to benefit all of humanity.”

The ruling marks another major chapter in the growing rivalry between Musk and OpenAI leadership as competition intensifies in the global artificial intelligence industry.

Musk was among OpenAI’s original co-founders before leaving the organization and later launching rival AI company xAI.

SOURCE: The Guardian