It is Elon Musk who emerges as the loser from a battle that has bewitched the tech world, pitting two of the most emblematic figures in artificial intelligence against each other. A federal jury in Oakland, California, has ruled that the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and OpenAI waited too long before suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for allegedly violating an agreement to operate their artificial intelligence venture exclusively as a charitable, non-profit organization.
The accusations
At the center of the dispute were Musk’s accusations against his enemy Altman that he manipulated him and induced him to contribute millions to the launch of OpenAI to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. A promise that later turned out to be false with Altman becoming the architect of the startup’s transformation into a for-profit enterprise. “I was a fool” to have contributed $38 million, Musk admitted during the trial, during which he asked for $180 billion in damages and the removal of Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from their roles.
Lawyers for the ChatGPT CEO have rejected the allegations, arguing that Musk knew about the plan to create a for-profit company and supported it. The world’s richest man reportedly tried to take control of the venture and sued only after being rebuffed. Musk is “a show of hypocrisy,” Altman’s lawyers said.
The judgement
The advisory jury’s verdict, which came after less than two hours of deliberation, was immediately ratified by District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
The court did not rule on the validity of Musk’s “breach of charitable trust” charges, but ruled that those charges were time-barred within the three-year statute of limitations.
Musk’s response
Elon Musk has already made it known that he will appeal the jury’s verdict. “The judge and jury did not rule on the merits of the case, but on a technicality,” Musk wrote on X.
“For anyone following the case in detail, there is no doubt that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman did indeed enrich themselves by embezzling from a charity. I will appeal to the Ninth Circuit, as setting a precedent that allows charities to be plundered is detrimental to philanthropy,” Musk highlighted.
The implications
Musk’s defeat looms over the multi-billion dollar share prices of SpaceX and OpenAI itself expected in the coming months. For Altman’s startup, the victory instead represents an improvement in view of the IPO, on which Musk weighed like a boulder. For Musk and his xAI, which recently merged with SpaceX, the verdict is instead a heavy slap in the face, even if the billionaire can claim to have been defeated not on the merits but only for statutory reasons.
