By Jason Nelson
2 min read
Elon Musk’s latest legal challenge against OpenAI has collapsed in court, clearing one of the biggest legal threats facing the ChatGPT maker as competition in artificial intelligence intensifies.
A California jury on Monday rejected Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and co-founder Greg Brockman, according to NBC News. Jurors ultimately decided that Musk waited too long to bring claims accusing OpenAI’s leadership of improperly profiting from the organization that Musk helped found.
Jurors found OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman not liable on all claims, and rejected Musk’s separate claim that Microsoft helped move OpenAI away from its original nonprofit mission.
The trial, which began in April, stemmed from Musk’s 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, Brockman, and Microsoft, alleging that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission by shifting toward a commercial structure and deepening its relationship with Microsoft.
According to NBC News, the case included strict filing deadlines: three years for claims that Altman and Brockman violated duties tied to OpenAI’s nonprofit structure, and two years for claims that they improperly profited from the organization.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Altman, Brockman, and other researchers before leaving the company in 2018. OpenAI later launched ChatGPT in 2022 generative AI race During testimony, Musk said he supported OpenAI’s nonprofit structure because he believed advanced AI should be developed for the public good, rather than driven primarily by profit.
OpenAI’s lawyers argued Musk’s lawsuit was motivated in part by competition after he launched a rival AI company, xAI, in 2023. During the trial, Musk acknowledged that xAI partly used OpenAI models to help train Grok through a technique known as distillation.
The trial drew several high-profile witnesses and included testimony from major figures across the AI industry, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis—the mother of four of Musk’s children.
While the jury decision marks the end of this latest legal battle—at least for now—it is just one of several ongoing legal fights between Musk and OpenAI, including OpenAI’s countersuit accusing Musk of using “bad-faith tactics,” an antitrust lawsuit by xAI against OpenAI and Apple over iPhone AI integration, and a separate xAI lawsuit accusing OpenAI of trade secret theft.
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
Decrypt-a-cookie
This website or its third-party tools use cookies. Cookie policy By clicking the accept button, you agree to the use of cookies.