A jury ruled in favor of Sam Altman in the culmination of a long and bitter legal battle that pitted the richest person in the world against a leader of the AI boom.
The federal jury in Oakland, California, found Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, not liable for unjustly enriching themselves and breaking contracts made with Musk when founding the startup.
The verdict is a stark rebuke of Elon Musk and his lawyer’s claims that Altman “stole a charity” through his leadership of OpenAI.
The jury’s finding is a non-binding, advisory verdict that leaves Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers with ultimate power to issue her own ruling in the case, which is expected to align with the jury’s findings. Gonzalez Rogers immediately said that she would agree with the jury’s decision.
The nine-person jury in Oakland began deliberating the case on Monday morning after a three-week trial that featured several of Silicon Valley’s most prominent executives taking the stand. Musk, Altman, Brockman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella all gave testimony in the case, at times facing combative cross-examinations in the courtroom.
The verdict caps off one of the most closely watched trials in tech, which delivered a look behind the scenes at OpenAI’s fractious history and the fight between two of the industry’s biggest names. Although a victory for Altman, the case made public many unflattering details and episodes involving both moguls.
Musk’s lawsuit sought $134bn to be redistributed from OpenAI’s for-profit arm to its non-profit. It also demanded the removal of Altman and Brockman from their roles at OpenAI, as well as the undoing of the firm’s for-profit restructuring.
At the core of the case was Musk’s allegations that Altman, Brockman and OpenAI broke a founding agreement when they restructured the company into a for-profit entity. Musk accused the defendants of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment, claiming that Altman swindled him into co-founding OpenAI in 2015 as a non-profit to better humanity then later twisting it to pursue personal gain.
OpenAI rejected all of Musk’s claims and stated that he was always aware of plans to create a for-profit entity. Attorneys for the firm argued that Musk was motivated by jealousy after he made a failed attempt to take over OpenAI in 2018 and left the company shortly after. OpenAI also repeatedly stated that it is still overseen by its nonprofit organization and dedicated to what it refers to as “the mission” of helping the world with its technology.
The trial brought in many current and former OpenAI executives to testify on the history of the company, as well as academic experts on nonprofit law and corporate governance. Lawyers for both sides presented stacks of private texts, emails and other internal documents to build a narrative of the firm’s founding, specifically when the litigants became aware of OpenAI’s for-profit plans.