Jury Dismisses Musk's OpenAI Lawsuit in Under Two Hours

Thornton McEnery

Mon, May 18, 2026 at 4:31 PM EDT 2 min read

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The jury took less than two hours to decide that Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI was filed too late, which is the legal equivalent of showing up to a fight after everyone has already gone home. After three weeks of testimony in Oakland, the jury found Musk's claims were outside the statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed, dismissed the case, and when Musk's lawyer floated an appeal, indicated she was prepared to dismiss that too, more or less on the spot.

For those who missed the preceding three seasons of the most expensive reality show in Silicon Valley history, here’s the recap: Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015, left the board three years later, watched it become the most valuable AI company in the world, started his own competing lab in 2023, and then sued Altman in 2024 claiming OpenAI had abandoned its nonprofit mission in pursuit of profit. He wanted $134 billion in ill-gotten gains returned, Altman and Greg Brockman removed from leadership, and OpenAI's entire for-profit restructuring unwound. Altman's lawyers responded that Musk had himself floated a for-profit structure, on the condition that he control it, and even tried to fold OpenAI into Tesla. The lawsuit, they argued, was a competitor using the courts as a weapon because he couldn't win in the marketplace.

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The jury, after roughly 90 minutes of deliberation, sided with that characterization. Counsel for OpenAI and Microsoft celebrated with hugs outside the courtroom. Musk's team reserved the right to appeal.

The hottest drama in Silicon Valley just wrapped its finale, and Elon walked out looking like the housewife who spent three seasons plotting the takedown, finally cornered the target at the reunion, and got ruled out of order on a technicality.