Overview
- A nine-person federal jury in Oakland on Monday unanimously said Musk filed too late, and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she would adopt the advisory verdict.
- The trial ran about three weeks and featured testimony from Musk, OpenAI leaders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
- Musk accused OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission, said he donated about $38 million in its early years, and sought to unwind the restructuring, remove Altman and Brockman, and return roughly $134–$150 billion to the nonprofit arm.
- Microsoft, named as a co-defendant for allegedly helping the shift to a for-profit model, welcomed the outcome and defended its investment partnership with OpenAI.
- The decision removes a major near-term legal obstacle to OpenAI’s commercial plans and a potential IPO, though Musk’s lawyers said they plan to appeal, and the court did not reach the merits of his claims.