The NewYorkTimes.com reported that “Elon Musk accused OpenAI of putting commercial gain over the public good, but jurors ruled that the statute of limitations had expired. Mr. Musk said he planned to appeal, skewering the decision and the judge on X.” The May 18, 2026 article entitled ” Jury Rejects Musk’s Claims Against OpenAI” (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/05/18/technology/openai-trial-verdict-altman-musk) included these comments from Reporters Cade Metz and Mike Isaac:
Elon Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman was quickly rejected by a federal jury on Monday, in a major blow to Mr. Musk’s credibility and his effort to become a serious competitor in the artificial intelligence race.
The nine-member jury, deliberating for less than two hours in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., found that Mr. Musk had failed to file his lawsuit within a time frame required by law. The presiding judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, dismissed Mr. Musk’s claims after the jury’s decision.
Mr. Musk’s lead lawyer immediately said the tech mogul would appeal the decision, while OpenAI’s lawyers celebrated with back slaps in the hallway outside the courtroom. Neither Mr. Musk nor Mr. Altman was in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
In a social media post a few hours later, Mr. Musk attacked Judge Gonzalez Rogers, calling her an “activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf” for a decision that “creates such a terrible precedent.”
The outcome preserves the status quo in Silicon Valley’s race to build artificial intelligence, with OpenAI maintaining its role as one of the tech industry’s most essential companies. And it thwarted Mr. Musk’s efforts to implode an organization he helped to create in 2015.
Mr. Musk had accused OpenAI; its chief executive, Mr. Altman; and its president, Greg Brockman, of “stealing a charity” by attaching a commercial company to OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit, and taking billions of dollars in investments from Microsoft. He also accused them of unjustly enriching themselves through the nonprofit.
Interesting appeal problem!
First published at https://www.vogelitlaw.com/blog/after-2-hours-the-jury-rules-against-musk-that-he-did-not-file-his-lawsuit-within-the-statute-of-limitations