A California federal jury has dismissed Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, handing a major courtroom victory to the ChatGPT maker while setting up what could become a lengthy appeals battle.
The verdict, delivered Monday in Oakland after less than two hours of jury deliberation, concluded that Musk waited too long to file his claims against OpenAI, Altman, and co-founder Greg Brockman.
The decision effectively ends the current case without the court ever ruling on the core allegations surrounding OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit research lab into one of the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence companies.
Musk originally filed the lawsuit in 2024, accusing OpenAI leadership of abandoning the organization’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity.” According to Musk, the company shifted toward a profit-driven structure that enriched executives and investors while sidelining the nonprofit ideals he says he helped fund in OpenAI’s early years.
Musk testified during the three-week trial that he contributed roughly $38 million to OpenAI under the belief it would remain focused on public benefit rather than corporate profits. Musk also argued that Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment and OpenAI’s restructuring represented a betrayal of that original vision.
OpenAI’s legal team pushed back aggressively throughout the trial, portraying Musk’s lawsuit as an attempt to slow down a competitor after launching his own AI company, xAI. Lawyers for OpenAI argued Musk had long been aware of the company’s plans to create a for-profit arm and only pursued legal action years later after OpenAI became a dominant force in artificial intelligence.
The jury ultimately sided with that argument, ruling the claims fell outside the statute of limitations. That meant jurors never had to determine whether OpenAI or Altman actually violated any charitable obligations.
Following the ruling, Musk blasted the outcome on X, calling it a “calendar technicality” and confirming he plans to appeal. He also criticized Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, arguing the case was decided on procedural grounds rather than the substance of his accusations.
Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026
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…
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