Elon Musk Loses Frivolous Lawsuit Against OpenAI

As expected, Elon Musk lost his lawsuit against OpenAI today after a jury deliberated for just 90 minutes. I’m surprised it took that long.

Musk originally sued the company he had helped cofound in March 2024, arguing that OpenAI had breached its non-profit mission by attempting to reorganize as a for-profit company. That suit was dropped with no cause given but then revived in near-identical form just seven months later. It was always a frivolous waste of time and money, not to mention an abuse of our legal process. But it somehow managed to go to trial in late April, with embarrassing details emerging about virtually all the parties involved.

I specifically ignored this trial for the reasons noted above, but after both sides rested, a jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before doing the right thing and rejecting Musk’s claims against OpenAI. The jury’s verdict is advisory in nature, with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers–yes, the same judge who threw the book at Apple in Epic v. Apple–having the final say. But she has already indicated where she’s going.

“I think that there’s a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s finding,” she said after the jury returned from deliberations. She dismissed Musk’s claims “on the spot,” she added.

A second stage of the trial, which involves Musk’s claims against both OpenAI and Microsoft, will likely be thrown out by Judge Rogers, she indicated.

“The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear and we welcome the jury’s the decision to dismiss these claims as untimely,” a Microsoft statement reads. “We remain committed to our work with OpenAI to scale AI for people and organizations around the world.”