U.S. Jury Rejects Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman

A U.S. federal jury in Oakland, California rejected Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its executives, finding that Musk waited too long to bring his claims over the company’s direction and governance.

“03:52\n01:56\n02:49\n01:56\n01:32\n02:00\n01:43\n01:24\n02:10\n07:16\n20 Minutes with AFP\nPublished May 19, 2026 at 05:26 • Updated May 19, 2026 at 05:26\nA legal blow for Elon Musk”

20 Minutes

The unanimous verdict was delivered after less than two hours of deliberation, and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she accepted the jury’s findings as her own.

20 Minutes

Musk had accused OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and President Greg Brockman of abandoning the organization’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity, after he said he contributed $38 million during OpenAI’s early years.

OpenAI countered that Musk had been aware of plans to expand and develop a for-profit structure years before filing his case in August 2024, and the court’s decision cleared the way for OpenAI to proceed with a possible initial public offering that could value the business at $1 trillion.

After the verdict, Musk signaled he would continue the legal fight, while OpenAI’s legal team argued the timing issue meant the case could not proceed.

Musk reacted on X by calling the decision a “calendar technicality,” writing that “the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality.”

In court, Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff told reporters, “This one is not over,” and said the ruling had “major legal components as well.”

CNBC

OpenAI’s lawyers framed the case as sabotage, with William Savitt telling reporters that the jury’s finding confirmed the lawsuit was “a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor.”

The jury’s statute-of-limitations ruling meant the judge accepted and adopted the jury’s findings, and CNBC reported that the court did not address whether Musk’s “breach of charitable trust” claims were valid.

Microsoft also welcomed the outcome, with a statement saying, “The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear, and we welcome the jury's decision to dismiss these claims as untimely.”

The verdict simplifies the path for OpenAI to proceed with a possible initial public offering that could value the business at $1 trillion, and Axios described the decision as short-circuiting a case that threatened to upend the AI industry’s power structure.

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Axios

In March, OpenAI said it was worth $852 billion after it raised a fresh round of $122 billion from outside investors, and the ruling preserved the status quo for OpenAI, its executives, and Microsoft.

NPR reported that the jury sidestepped the core questions of Musk’s case accusing Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman of committing a “breach of charitable trust” by allegedly jettisoning OpenAI’s founding mission.

Musk had sought up to $134 billion in damages and asked for Altman’s ouster, but the statute-of-limitations findings meant the jury rejected Musk’s claims against OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft.

With the case dismissed, OpenAI now faces fewer legal obstacles as it pursues its next phase of growth, while Musk prepares to challenge the ruling through the appeals process.