Elon Musk loses lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI as jury finds claims were filed too late

"A nine-person jury in Oakland unanimously found that Musk’s claims had been filed too late under the statute of limitations, ending the most consequential corporate governance trial in the history of artificial intelligence without reaching the merits of whether OpenAI's leaders had “stolen a charity.” The verdict is advisory, meaning Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California will make the final determination on liability. But she indicated before deliberations began that she would very likely follow the jury's recommendation."

"The jury's task was not to determine whether Altman and Brockman had betrayed OpenAI's founding mission. It was to answer a narrower question first: did Musk file his lawsuit within the statutory time limit? Musk departed OpenAI's board in 2018. He did not file suit until February 2024, a six-year gap that his legal team struggled to explain across three weeks of trial."

"Musk testified that he only discovered the full extent of OpenAI's departure from its nonprofit mission in 2022, when Microsoft was preparing to invest $10 billion. OpenAI's attorneys argued that the relevant events, including the creation of a for-profit subsidiary in 2019 and Microsoft's initial $1 billion investment that same year, were public knowledge well within the filing window. The jury agree"

A nine-person jury in Oakland unanimously found that Elon Musk’s claims against Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI, and Microsoft were filed after the applicable statute of limitations expired. The verdict ended the trial without reaching the merits of whether OpenAI leaders “stole a charity.” The jury’s role was limited to determining whether the lawsuit was timely, not whether the leaders betrayed OpenAI’s founding mission. Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 and filed suit in February 2024. Musk testified that he learned the full extent of mission departure in 2022 during Microsoft’s preparation to invest $10 billion. OpenAI argued that key events, including the 2019 for-profit subsidiary and Microsoft’s 2019 investment, were public well before the filing deadline. The verdict is advisory, and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers indicated she would likely follow it.

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