Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing AI powerhouse OpenAI of violating its charter as a charitable organization was unanimously rejected by a federal jury.
The nine-member jury in federal district court in Oakland, California, on Monday unanimously found that Musk’s allegation against OpenAI and execs Sam Altman and Greg Brockman claiming a “breach of charitable trust” was barred by the statute of limitations. Musk also had accused Microsoft, a major OpenAI investor, of “aiding and abetting” OpenAi’s breach of charitable trust; the jury similarly decided that too was was barred by the statute of limitations.
Musk — currently the world’s wealthiest individual with an estimated net worth upwards of $800 billion — sued OpenAI in 2024 alleging the company abandoned its original nonprofit mission to benefit humanity in favor of maximizing profits for Microsoft. He also filed a related lawsuit seeking to block OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit entity. In his lawsuit, Musk alleged the OpenAI execs “stole a charity” and called OpenAI’s shift away from its nonprofit mission a “textbook tale of altruism versus greed.”
Musk had provided initial funding for OpenAI and was seeking $150 billion in damages. Musk also wanted Altman to be removed from OpenAI’s board of directors and had sought to have OpenAI reverted to a not-for-profit company. Musk exited the OpenAI board in February 2018, which OpenAI said at the time would eliminate a conflict of interest as Tesla (where Musk serves as CEO) began focusing on AI.
