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Elon Musk’s lawsuit, in which he claimed that the co-founders of OpenAI treated him unfairly, was dismissed. Nine jurors unanimously concluded that the lawsuit was filed late.
Musk accused Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI, and Microsoft of “stealing a charity” by creating a commercial division of the company that deals with advanced AI developments. However, the court ruled that he decided to file the lawsuit too late.
While the trial included a detailed examination of the dramatic history of OpenAI and testimony from Silicon Valley representatives, the case ultimately focused on rather narrow legal issues. The court considered whether Sam Altman and other defendants made promises to Musk and broke them, but Musk’s side failed to convince the jury that they had legally valid claims.
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In particular, OpenAI insisted on a statute of limitations defense, trying to prove that all the circumstances Musk sought to challenge had occurred before 2021. The specific dates depended on the individual counts of the indictment: until August 5, 2021 for the first count, until August 5, 2022 for the second, and until November 14, 2021 for the third. As a result, the jury agreed with this argumentation, and the verdict deliberations did not last long.
“There was a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot,” said Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. The conclusion of the trial means that one of the biggest threats to OpenAI ahead of the company’s expected IPO, namely the possibility of a forced restructuring, is no longer relevant.
“It did not take [the jury] two hours to conclude … that Mr. Musk’s lawsuit is nothing more than an after-the-fact contrivance that bears no relationship to reality,” OpenAI’s lead attorney, Bill Savitt, said. “They kicked it exactly where it belongs – just to the side. This lawsuit is a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor.”
Microsoft, which Musk also accused of facilitating the alleged illegal violation of the terms of the charitable trust by OpenAI, reacted positively to the court’s decision. According to the company’s representatives, Microsoft “remained committed to our work with OpenAI to advance and scale AI for people and organizations around the world.”
The verdict was announced during a hearing on the potential amount of compensation to be paid to Musk if he wins. Although this discussion has lost its relevance, the judge still expressed doubts about the comparison that Musk ‘s lawyers made between his charitable contributions and investments in a commercial startup. “Your analysis seems to be devoid of connection to the underlying facts,” she told the expert who had calculated the amount of illicit profit made by OpenAI and Microsoft at Musk’s expense. It allegedly ranged from $78.8 to $135 billion.
After the court’s decision, Elon Musk tried to present the procedural grounds for closing the case as a moral victory. “There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is WHEN they did it!”, he wrote on his Twitter page. “I will be filing an appeal with the Ninth Circuit, because creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America.”
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