Elon Musk Loses OpenAI Trial Against Sam Altman, Vows to Appeal

A federal jury in Oakland, California, ruled that Elon Musk waited too long to sue OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over claims they violated an agreement to run their artificial intelligence venture strictly as a charitable nonprofit. The advisory jury's verdict came after less than two hours of deliberations and was immediately adopted by District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit, had filed a $150 billion lawsuit against the organization, Altman, and president Greg Brockman, accusing them of turning it into a for-profit entity for personal enrichment. Altman, Brockman, and OpenAI were found not liable on all claims, and the jury also rejected Musk's case against Microsoft on the same statute-of-limitations grounds. OpenAI's lawyers portrayed the lawsuit as Musk's attempt to kneecap a rival after he failed to gain control of it. During weeks of testimony, jurors heard from Altman, Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Musk himself. Musk and his attorneys said they would appeal the verdict to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The verdict comes at a critical time as both tech magnates push their respective companies toward the public markets in what are expected to be record offerings.

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