A California federal court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and its Chief Executive Officer, Sam Altman. The court ruled that the statute of limitations on the claims had officially expired.
A nine-member jury determined that the legal accusations brought forward by Musk against the artificial intelligence firm—which he co-founded—were not filed within the strict timeframe mandated by law. Musk’s lawsuit had accused the technology company of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. In response, OpenAI firmly characterized the litigation as a baseless attempt by Musk to use the judicial system to obstruct a direct market competitor.
During the trial proceedings, OpenAI’s legal counsel presented several internal emails from Musk’s advisors. The correspondence actively discussed a potential equity stake that the billionaire would acquire if the organization ever transitioned away from its original non-profit model. Musk initially invested approximately $45 million into the venture.
However, in 2017—just two years after OpenAI’s inception—his professional relationship with Sam Altman deteriorated significantly. The Tesla CEO resigned from OpenAI’s board of directors a year later, in 2018. Following his departure, OpenAI transitioned into a capped-for-profit corporate structure in 2019.
