Beeflower Media

On May 19, according to foreign reports, Musk lost the lawsuit against OpenAI.

A US jury dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, ruling that the artificial intelligence (AI) company does not owe responsibility to the world's richest man for allegedly deviating from its original intention to benefit humanity.

On Monday, a jury in the US District Court in Oakland, California, unanimously ruled that Musk filed the lawsuit too late. The jury's deliberation took less than two hours.

Musk strongly criticized the verdict, calling it 'a terrible precedent.'

The trial was widely seen as a pivotal moment for OpenAI and the future of artificial intelligence, concerning not only how AI is used but also who will benefit from it.

After the verdict, Musk's lawyer stated the right to appeal is reserved, but the judge hinted that he might face an uphill battle, as whether the statute of limitations had expired before Musk filed the lawsuit is a factual issue.

'There is a substantial amount of evidence supporting the jury's verdict, so I am prepared to dismiss the case on the spot,' said US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

Musk is a co-founder of OpenAI, which was established in 2015 and developed ChatGPT. After initially investing $38 million in OpenAI, Musk accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his senior lieutenant Greg Brockman in 2024 of shifting the company to a for-profit model without his knowledge.

Musk posted on his social media platform X that he would appeal the decision.

'No one who has paid detailed attention to this case would doubt that Altman and Brockman did enrich themselves by stealing from a charity. The only question is when they did it!'

Altman and OpenAI claimed that there was never a promise that OpenAI would remain a non-profit organization forever. In fact, they argued that Musk, knowing this, filed the lawsuit because he could not unilaterally control the rapidly developing AI developer.

The trial, which began on April 27, revealed the bitter quarrel between Musk and Altman, as well as the founding history of OpenAI. Now valued at $852 billion, OpenAI is moving toward one of the largest initial public offerings in history.

Repeated Attacks

Musk has been seeking compensation from OpenAI to his charity and demanding Altman's removal from the company's board. Musk's decision to stop funding OpenAI exacerbated the severe rift between the former allies.

Musk stated that he took this action in response to deceptive practices discovered by OpenAI's board. In 2023, the board dismissed Altman as CEO, but he returned to the company days later.

After 11 days of testimony and debate, during which the credibility of both Musk and Altman was repeatedly questioned, the verdict was finally reached.

Both sides accused each other of prioritizing money over serving the public.

In closing arguments, Musk's lawyer, Steven Molo, reminded the jury that several witnesses questioned Altman's candor or called him a liar, and during the trial, when asked if he was completely trustworthy, Musk did not unequivocally answer 'yes.'

Molo said, 'Sam Altman's credibility is directly questioned. If you don't believe him, they can't win.'

Musk accused OpenAI of improperly attempting to enrich investors and insiders at the expense of the non-profit organization and failing to prioritize the safety of artificial intelligence. He also claimed that Microsoft had always known that OpenAI prioritized money over altruism.

OpenAI countered that it was Musk who saw the allure of money and that he waited too long to claim that OpenAI violated its founding agreement to build safe artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

In closing arguments, OpenAI's lawyer, William Savitt, said, 'Mr. Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but not in artificial intelligence.'

OpenAI competes with AI companies such as Anthropic and xAI. A Microsoft executive testified that Microsoft has invested over $100 billion in its partnership with OpenAI.

Musk's xAI is now part of his space and rocket company SpaceX, which is preparing for an IPO that could surpass OpenAI in size.