A federal grand jury dismissed Elon Musk‘s claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was abandoning the company’s original humanitarian mission in a ruling on Monday.The jury unanimously decided that all of Musk’s claims were not brought in a timely manner within the statute of limitations, and thus Altman could not be held liable.
The ruling is a major blow to Musk, who brought the lawsuit against his former friend and co-founder of OpenAI, a company they built together with other artificial intelligence industry leaders.
Musk’s lawsuit centered on the fact that Altman transitioned OpenAI away from its nonprofit model to a for-profit company, arguing that Altman prioritized monetary gain over the original beneficial mission. The ChatGPT parent company first announced a for-profit subsidiary in 2019 and fully transitioned to the for-profit model in 2025.
The high-profile trial drew intense media coverage as AI playmakers and reporters awaited to see how the results would reshape the fast-expanding industry. Musk was seeking hundreds of billions of dollars in damages from the defendants, including Microsoft, a partner of OpenAI. Musk also demanded Altman’s removal from OpenAI’s board and the removal of its for-profit status.
