After less than two hours of deliberations, a jury on Monday rejected Elon Musk’s claims against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, ending a dramatic chapter in the bitter rivalry between the two tech billionaires who were once close friends.
The court, led by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, agreed with the advisory jury’s decision that Altman and OpenAI were not liable and that “the claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment are dismissed as untimely.” Gonzalez-Rogers said he was prepared to dismiss Musk’s claims “on the spot.”
The jury found that Musk’s claims were filed outside the statute of limitations, ruling that he had a three-year time limit to file a lawsuit and that he failed to do so in time.
Musk’s lawyer, Stephen Moro, reserved his client’s right to appeal directly to the judge, who expressed skepticism.
“There is a significant amount of evidence to support the jury’s decision,” she said at the end of the three-week trial in Oakland, California.
Outside court, Mark Toberoff, another of Musk’s lawyers, told CNBC that the lawsuit’s “core is to protect charities from this kind of exploitation. If they can get away with it, they shouldn’t get away with it.”
Musk filed a lawsuit in 2024 accusing Altman and OpenAI of violating a promise to keep the artificial intelligence lab as a nonprofit. Musk helped launch OpenAI in 2015, but left the board three years later.
microsoftThe company, which had already invested in OpenAI in 2019, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, with Musk accusing the software giant of aiding and abetting the AI startup in violating a charitable trust. The court said the claims against Microsoft were also dismissed.
“This is not a technical decision, it’s a substantive decision,” William Savitt, OpenAI’s lead attorney, told reporters. “You submitted your claim too late, and you did so in a complacent manner to use it as a weapon against a competitor who can’t compete in the market. So we’re glad we got it.”
Lawyers from OpenAI and Microsoft were greeted with hugs and slaps on the back as they left the courtroom in downtown Oakland.
“The facts and timeline of this case have long been clear, and we welcome the jury’s decision to dismiss these claims as untimely,” Microsoft’s lawyers said in a statement. “We remain committed to working with OpenAI to advance and scale AI for people and organizations around the world.”
Mr. Musk’s team asked the court to force OpenAI and Microsoft to give up up to $134 billion in “ill-gotten gains,” remove Mr. Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from management, and lift the company’s 2025 restructuring that enabled the growth of its commercial arm. Musk said any funds should be returned to “OpenAI Charities” and not to him personally.
The lawsuit centers on Musk’s claims that OpenAI executives “stole charity,” and that Altman and Brockman abandoned OpenAI’s founding philanthropic mission to pursue personal gain. Musk testified that he donated about $38 million to OpenAI with the understanding that the company would develop AI “for the benefit of humanity,” not to enrich one person.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appears in court at the Ronald V. Delmes Federal Building in Oakland, California, on May 12, 2026.
Benjamin Fanjoy | Getty Images
OpenAI’s lawyers argued that Musk’s donations were not restricted in any way and that restructuring the business was the only way to win the costly competition. google Deep Mind. They also revealed that Musk set up a for-profit organization in exchange for retaining control, at one point forcing the company to fold. tesla.
In 2023, Musk launched his own competing AI lab, xAI. xAI is now part of SpaceX. OpenAI’s lawyers described the lawsuit as an attempt by Musk to kneecap his rival after failing to subdue him.
During weeks of testimony, jurors heard from Mr. Altman, Mr. Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Mr. Musk himself.
The ruling comes at a critical time for Altman and Musk. Both tech moguls are pushing their respective companies toward the public markets in a field that promises record business.
In late March, OpenAI raised $122 billion at a valuation of more than $850 billion. ChatGPT makers are racing to evolve their models and continue building consumer-facing services while trying to keep pace with Anthropic in the enterprise AI market.
Meanwhile, Musk is expected to begin meeting with investors soon ahead of the IPO of SpaceX, which was valued at $1.25 trillion after merging with xAI in February. SpaceX secretly filed for an IPO in April and could release a prospectus this week.
—CNBC’s Ashley Caputo and Kate Rooney contributed to this report.
