A US jury on Monday ruled ​against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence company not liable to the world's richest person for having allegedly strayed from its original mission to benefit humanity. In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Oakland, California federal court said Musk had brought his case too ​late. The jury deliberated ‌less than two hours. The trial had widely been seen as a critical moment for the future ⁠of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it. Watch moreMusk vs Altman: Beyond battle of egos, who gets final say on AI? The outcome spares OpenAI from a potentially existential legal threat. Had Musk prevailed, he was seeking to force the company to revert to its nonprofit structure – a move that would have derailed its planned IPO and unwound ties to major investors including Microsoft, Amazon and SoftBank, who have poured billions into the company amid the global AI race. Following the verdict, Musk's lawyer said he reserved the right to appeal, but the ‌judge suggested he may have an uphill battle because whether the statute of limitations ran out before Musk sued ⁠was a factual issue. "There's a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury's finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot," US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said. In his 2024 lawsuit, Musk accused OpenAI, its ​chief executive Sam Altman and its president Greg Brockman of manipulating him into giving $38 million, then going behind ‌his back by attaching a for-profit business to its original nonprofit and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors. Musk called the OpenAI defendants' conduct "stealing a charity".