A federal jury in California on Monday rejected Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, ruling that the billionaire entrepreneur waited too long to file claims against the artificial intelligence company he helped create.

The unanimous verdict cleared Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI, and Microsoft of liability after a three-week trial in Oakland, California.

Jurors reached a decision in less than two hours after deliberations began Monday morning. The panel found that Musk filed the lawsuit after the statute of limitations had expired, according to reports from the courtroom.

OpenAI lawsuit dismissed

Musk sued OpenAI in 2024, accusing the company and its executives of abandoning the nonprofit mission behind the organization. He argued that OpenAI shifted toward commercial goals after creating a for-profit structure and securing billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft.

The lawsuit sought roughly $150 billion in damages. Musk also wanted Altman removed from OpenAI’s board and aimed to block the company’s push toward a full for-profit transition ahead of a possible public offering.

Jurors, however, did not decide whether OpenAI violated its founding principles. Instead, they focused on timing and legal deadlines tied to the claims. The court applied a three-year limit to claims involving charitable trust duties and a two-year limit to claims involving unjust enrichment.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that OpenAI’s founders discussed commercial structures as early as 2017. OpenAI later launched a for-profit arm in 2019, years before Musk filed the lawsuit.

The jury concluded Musk knew enough about those developments long before taking legal action. That finding effectively ended the case against OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman.

Microsoft also cleared

The verdict also cleared Microsoft, which Musk accused of helping OpenAI breach its original nonprofit obligations. Microsoft invested heavily in OpenAI’s commercial operations and became one of the company’s closest strategic partners.

Musk argued that partnership strengthened OpenAI’s shift away from its original mission. During the trial, he testified that he delayed legal action because he trusted reassurances from Altman over several years.

He also said concerns intensified after Microsoft committed another major investment into OpenAI in 2023. OpenAI’s legal team responded by arguing that Musk already knew about the company’s structure and business direction long before filing suit.

After the verdict, lawyers for OpenAI and Microsoft celebrated outside the courtroom. Neither Musk, Altman, nor Brockman attended the final reading of the decision, despite appearing during portions of the trial. Microsoft later welcomed the ruling and said the timeline behind the dispute had long been clear.

Appeal remains possible

Musk’s legal team signaled that an appeal could still follow after Monday’s decision. Attorney Marc Toberoff gave a brief response after the verdict and said the case may continue through the appeals process.

Another Musk lawyer, Steven Molo, told the court the legal team wanted to preserve Musk’s appeal rights before deciding its next step. The verdict now removes a major legal threat hanging over OpenAI as the company expands rapidly in the global AI race.

OpenAI remains free to continue large-scale infrastructure and data center projects expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The ruling also clears the path for broader commercial plans as competition intensifies across the artificial intelligence industry.