U.S. Jury Rules Against Elon Musk in Lawsuit Over OpenAI’s Mission, Structure
A United States federal jury has ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding that the company is not legally liable for allegedly abandoning its original mission to benefit humanity.
The unanimous verdict was delivered on Monday by a jury sitting at the federal court in Oakland, California, after less than two hours of deliberation.
Musk had accused OpenAI, its Chief Executive Sam Altman, and President Greg Brockman of misleading him into contributing millions of dollars under the promise of a nonprofit structure, before shifting the company toward a for-profit model backed by major investors including Microsoft.
In his 2024 lawsuit, Musk alleged that OpenAI “strayed from its founding principles,” claiming the organisation had effectively turned its back on its original charitable mission after he left its board in 2018.
The jury’s decision followed 11 days of testimony in which both sides accused each other of prioritising profit over public interest in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry.
Following the ruling, Musk’s legal team indicated that he may appeal the decision, though the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, suggested that overturning the verdict could be difficult due to factual findings regarding timing and legal limitations.
During proceedings, OpenAI argued that Musk himself had also shown commercial interest in artificial intelligence development, while maintaining that the company remained committed to building safe and broadly beneficial AI systems.
The case, widely followed across the technology sector, highlighted ongoing global debates about who should control artificial intelligence, how it should be regulated, and whether profit-driven models can coexist with public-interest technology development.
U.S. Jury Rules Against Elon Musk in Lawsuit Over OpenAI’s Mission, Structure