A federal jury in Oakland, California, unanimously rejected Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, on Monday, finding that the world's richest man had simply waited too long to bring his case to court. The verdict, which the nine-member jury reached in under two hours of deliberations, ends a dramatic three-week trial that drew some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley to the witness stand.
The ruling dismisses Musk's bid to claw back what he claimed were ill-gotten gains from OpenAI's shift away from its founding nonprofit mission — and, crucially, removes a significant legal cloud hanging over OpenAI's anticipated public listing. OpenAI is targeting an initial public offering in the final quarter of 2026, aiming for a valuation of one trillion dollars (£740.6bn).
