OAKLAND, United States – A federal jury on Monday ruled that billionaire Elon Musk waited too long to sue artificial intelligence company OpenAI and its co-founders, delivering a decisive victory to the ChatGPT startup and ending one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched legal battles.

The swift decision concludes a three-week trial that saw leading technology executives take the stand, with Musk arguing that OpenAI’s shift to a profit-driven business betrayed its original nonprofit mission.

The jury in Oakland federal court found that Musk’s claims against OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, president Greg Brockman, the OpenAI Foundation and Microsoft were barred by statutes of limitations, leaving the core arguments of the world’s richest person largely unaddressed.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who had asked the jury to advise her on the matter, accepted and confirmed their decision.

‘Sabotage attempt’

The outcome spared OpenAI from a potentially damaging legal threat.

Had Musk won, he could potentially have forced the company to revert to its nonprofit structure – a move that would have derailed its planned initial public offering and severed ties to major investors including Microsoft, Amazon and SoftBank.

“The finding of the jury confirms that this lawsuit was a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor,” OpenAI attorney William Savitt said outside the courthouse.

“Musk can bring his claims, and he can tell his stories, but what the nine members of this jury found is that his stories were just that – stories, not facts,” he added.

Musk, who runs both SpaceX and Tesla, had sued OpenAI over its transformation from a research nonprofit into the $850 billion company behind ChatGPT.

He claimed Altman and Brockman improperly used a $38 million donation intended to sustain OpenAI as a research laboratory devoted to developing artificial intelligence for humanity’s benefit.

But during deliberations, the jury first had to resolve whether Musk, who filed the lawsuit in 2024 – four years after his last contribution – had done so within the statutory time limit.

Appeal planned

Musk said on social media platform X that he would appeal, arguing the “jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case” and that to “loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America.”

The billionaire also criticised Judge Gonzalez Rogers for setting a “terrible precedent,” writing in a since-deleted post that accused her of being an “activist judge” who used the jury as a “fig leaf” for a flawed ruling.

The outcome had largely been expected to depend on which of the feuding billionaires the jury would believe.

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Testimony focused heavily on Altman’s integrity and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring that troubled colleagues, many of whom have since left OpenAI.

OpenAI’s attorneys countered with attacks on Musk, pointing to his varying accounts of the company’s early days and examining testimony from Shivon Zilis – a business associate with whom he has four children – who served as an intermediary between the executives.

Altman, who was fired by OpenAI’s board in November 2023 for lack of candour before being reinstated under employee pressure, emerged with allegations of manipulation and toxic work culture unresolved.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest backer with $13 billion committed, was also cleared of wrongdoing.

“This is an important victory for Altman and OpenAI and clears the path for an IPO by removing this uncertainty,” Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities told AFP.

“Musk was creating noise around this lawsuit but ultimately it was more drama than a long-term problem for OpenAI,” he added.

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