Elon Musk loses lawsuit against OpenAI

Elon Musk lost a lawsuit against OpenAI on Monday when a U.S. jury ruled the artificial intelligence company not liable to the world's richest person for allegedly straying from its original mission to benefit humanity. The jury in the Oakland, California, federal court said in a unanimous verdict that Musk had brought his case too late. The trial began on April 28.

The verdict followed 11 days of testimony and arguments, during which Musk's and Altman's credibility came under repeated attack. Each side accused the other of being more interested in money than serving the public. Musk accused OpenAI of wrongfully seeking to enrich investors and insiders at the nonprofit's expense and of failing to prioritise AI's safety. Musk's lawyer, Steven Molo, reminded jurors that several witnesses questioned Altman's candour or branded him a liar, and that Musk did not give an unqualified yes when asked during the trial if he was completely trustworthy. William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI, said in his closing argument, "Mr. Musk may have the Midas touch in some areas, but not in AI." Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.

OpenAI competes with AI companies such as Anthropic and xAI, and is preparing for a possible initial public offering that could value the business at $1 trillion. Musk's xAI is now part of his space and rocket company, SpaceX, which is preparing for an IPO that could exceed OpenAI's in size.