Share to ClassroomCourt Drops Musk's OpenAI Case
A nine-person jury in Oakland, California, has dismissed Elon Musk's case against OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman. The jurors took less than two hours to decide, ending a three-week trial. Musk had accused Altman of stealing a charity by changing OpenAI from a non-profit group, founded in 2015, into a for-profit company. He wanted up to $150billion and a court order to remove Altman.
But the jury did not decide if the accusations were true. It ruled only that Musk had waited too long to file the case. California has a legal deadline for bringing such claims, called the statute of limitations. Musk's lawyers called past OpenAI managers to say Altman was dishonest. OpenAI's lawyers showed proof that Musk himself once supported the change to a for-profit and even tried to take full control before leaving in 2018.
Musk promised to appeal on his platform X. He called the ruling a calendar technicality and said the judge was unfair. OpenAI's lawyer said the jurors had reached the right result quickly. Microsoft, which has put about $13billion into OpenAI, said it still supports the company. The ruling helps OpenAI as it prepares to sell shares to the public— a plan that could value the firm at around $1trillion this year.
