A California jury on Monday rejected Elon Musk’s claims against OpenAI, taking less than two hours to deliver their verdict in one of the biggest tech lawsuits in recent history.
Musk alleged that OpenAI chief Sam Altman “stole a charity” when he converted the startup to a for-profit entity; OpenAI’s lawyers called the lawsuit “a case of sour grapes,” suggesting that Musk — who left OpenAI over differences with Altman — only sued following ChatGPT’s success. A jury determined the Tesla CEO’s claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
The verdict concludes a dramatic chapter in Musk and Altman’s bitter feud, and paves the way for OpenAI to go public, in one of the largest IPOs expected to date.
“Regardless of the outcome,” Semafor’s tech editor wrote, “the reality is that everybody lost.” The proceedings “unearthed embarrassing emails, texts, and diary entries of some of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley… ultimately feeding the angry, anti-AI masses.”