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In a blow to Elon Musk, he has lost his legal fight with OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. On Friday, 18 May 2026, the federal jury in Oakland, California, reached a unanimous verdict after a few hours, finding that Musk took too long in filing his lawsuit.

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI and one of the earliest funders of the NPO, charged that Altman and the company breached their original nonprofit charter by turning into a for-profit company by allegedly undermining its original goals and enriching themselves unjustly at the expense of charitable trusts. He filed the massive damages claim in the case of a $150 billion lawsuit.

The jury, however, ruled in favor of OpenAI, determining the claims were "out of time" by the statute of limitations and that it was no longer liable to pay for the AI training. With a few years of foresight, Musk was aware of the company's turn and took legal action in 2024. The judge went against the verdict and dismissed the case.

This is a “calendar technicality,” Musk said in an email, and he will file an appeal. The decision gets rid of a big hurdle to OpenAI's possible listing and continued dominance in the field of AI. The ruling emphasizes the difficulties of upholding founders' intent in the swiftly changing landscape of the tech giants.