Bottom line: Musk’s accusation that OpenAI deceived him under the pretense of a nonprofit structure fails due to statute of limitations.
A California federal court jury has unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against Sam Altman and OpenAI. According to the jury, the lawsuit was filed too late.
Musk had accused OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman as well as President Greg Brockman of systematically deceiving him. He argued that the company was founded under the promise to operate it as a nonprofit organization for the public good. Instead, OpenAI later built a massive commercial business model that made the company one of the world’s most valuable AI corporations.
However, the jury unanimously found that Musk’s claims for unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty to a nonprofit organization, and a related claim against Microsoft as an accomplice were barred by the statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who on Monday was also to rule on potential remedial measures, immediately accepted the non-binding arbitration decision of the jury. The subsequent remedies phase has thus become moot.
Musk had demanded extensive remedial measures: more than 100 billion US dollars in damages, the removal of Altman and Brockman from executive and board positions, and a restructuring to convert OpenAI back to its original nonprofit status. Judge Rogers had already expressed considerable skepticism toward the first witness for the plaintiff during the remedies phase.
OpenAI is meanwhile preparing for a potentially enormous initial public offering that could approach a valuation of one trillion US dollars. According to reports, Musk is expected to appeal the ruling.
Source: ainews-dev.lumi-systems.io · Published May 18, 2026
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