A unanimous jury in Oakland, California, has dismissed Elon Musk's high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, ruling that Musk had waited too long to bring his claims. After three weeks of testimony and just two hours of deliberation, all nine jurors found that Musk's claims — which sought $150 billion in damages — were barred by the statute of limitations, the legal rule requiring cases to be filed within a set timeframe of the events in question. The verdict removes a significant obstacle to OpenAI's anticipated initial public offering, which analysts expect could value the company at close to one trillion dollars, ranking among the largest stock market debuts in financial history.

Musk had accused Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman of manipulating him into donating $38 million to the organisation, then abandoning its original nonprofit mission by attaching a for-profit business arm and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors. He argued that this amounted to "stealing a charity." OpenAI countered that Musk himself had been present during early discussions about the company's commercial expansion, had sought full control of the organisation before leaving its board in 2018, and only turned against it after founding his own rival AI company, xAI, in 2023. Musk's separate claims against Microsoft — accused of aiding OpenAI's transition — were dismissed alongside the main verdict. Microsoft said the "facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear."

The trial exposed deep personal animosity between the two billionaires and produced damaging testimony on both sides. Multiple witnesses, including former OpenAI board members and executives, described Altman as manipulative and prone to dishonesty — claims Altman denied. Altman, for his part, told jurors that Musk had once suggested that control of the company should pass to his children upon his death. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw the case, noted after the verdict that there was "a substantial amount of evidence" supporting the jury's finding and said she had been prepared to dismiss the case outright.

Musk immediately vowed to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissing the outcome on X as a "calendar technicality" rather than a ruling on the merits. However, legal experts cautioned that overturning such a fact-specific jury decision would be very difficult. "An appeals court would be very unlikely to overturn such a fact-specific decision from a jury, and a judge who agreed with it," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. OpenAI's legal team called the lawsuit an "after-the-fact contrivance" and "a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor."

Beyond the legal outcome, the trial shed an unusually bright light on the internal workings of one of the world's most consequential technology companies. Testimony touched on personal investment details, the dramatic 2023 episode in which Altman was briefly fired and then reinstated within five days, and the broader question of who controls — and benefits from — the development of artificial intelligence. The verdict leaves Altman and OpenAI bruised in reputation but legally vindicated, as the company pushes ahead with its for-profit restructuring and its path toward a public listing.