A federal jury rejected Elon Musk’s claims that OpenAI betrayed its public-benefit mission under Sam Altman’s leadership by moving toward a for-profit business, according to Bloomberg.
The unanimous verdict was reached Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, after about two hours of deliberations. Jurors found that Musk waited too long to bring his claims against the company.
“I think there is a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s findings,” U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said as she accepted the nine-member jury’s conclusion, according to Bloomberg.
The trial followed years of conflict between Musk and Altman, who worked together to launch OpenAI in 2015. Jurors heard nearly three weeks of testimony from Musk, Altman, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and others familiar with the company’s early years and internal disputes.
Musk’s legal team argued that Altman and Brockman “stole a charity” by restructuring OpenAI into a for-profit business. His lawyers also pointed to Altman’s brief ouster as CEO in 2023 and the wealth created for OpenAI founders and investors.
OpenAI’s lawyers portrayed Musk as a rival who left after being denied full control over the company’s future and later launched a competing artificial intelligence business.
Brockman testified that his stake in OpenAI is close to $30 billion, while former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said his equity is worth about $7 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that Microsoft targeted a $92 billion return on its investment.
Bloomberg reported that OpenAI and a lawyer for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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