Jon Blistein
Contact Jon Blistein by Email View all posts by Jon Blistein May 18, 2026
Elon Musk plans to appeal after losing a high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI, which he helped co-found in 2015. Arman Onal/Anadolu/Getty Images Elon Musk lost his high-profile lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI after a jury ruled that the Tesla founder waited too long to file the lawsuit in the first place, The New York Times reports.
Musk filed his lawsuit in 2024, accusing Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman of unjustly enriching themselves, and OpenAI of breaching its duty as a nonprofit by starting a for-profit wing and taking billions in investment from Microsoft (also named as a defendant). Musk helped Altman found OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, but left the board of directors in 2018 and no longer has a stake in the company.
The jury took less than two hours to decide the high-profile, three-week trial. And before even getting to the veracity of Musk’s claims, they ruled that he brought them after the statute of limitations had expired.
For the breach of contract part of the suit, the jury found that Musk failed to prove he had no way of knowing about OpenAI’s pursuit of a for-profit model before 2021. (The jury heard evidence he was involved in such discussions as early as 2017, per NBC News.). The jury also found Musk missed the two-year statute of limitations for the unjust enrichment claims. Additionally, this decision meant Microsoft could not be held liable for allegedly aiding and abetting OpenAI.
Per The Times, Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, indicated his client would appeal the ruling. It’s also possible Musk’s antitrust claims against OpenAI and Microsoft could head to a separate trial. The judge is set to discuss the matter with both sides later today, though he’s previously indicated a second trial would be unlikely due to robust competition in the AI market.
Meanwhile, OpenAI and Microsoft celebrated the victory. OpenAI’s lead lawyer, William Savitt, told reporters outside the courthouse he was “delighted” with the verdict, adding, if Musk appeals, “We are very, very confident in our case.”
