Elon Musk’s claim that he was mistreated by his OpenAI co-founders failed after nine California judges returned a unanimous verdict that his lawsuits were filed too late.
Musk accused Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI and Microsoft of “stealing charity” by creating a for-profit frontier AI lab. However, the judges found that any damages Musk may have suffered came before the deadline to file his claims under the law.
While the trial delved deeply into the rich history of OpenAI and included testimony from leading figures in Silicon Valley, it ultimately answered little legal questions. The case focused on when Altman and the other defendants made and broke promises to Musk, but his case failed to convince the jury that he had a valid claim.
In particular, OpenAI had developed a statute of limitations, which sought to prove that any harm Musk wanted to be sued for had occurred before 2021. (The specific date differed by case: before August 5, 2021 for the first count; August 5, 2022, for the second count; and on November 14, 2021, the third argument received the argument of the case) persuasive, making a short period of negotiation.
“There was a lot of evidence to support what the judge found, that’s why I was willing to overturn it right away,” said Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers after the decision was issued.
The end of the lawsuit means that the one major threat to OpenAI – a possible restructuring – is now off the table ahead of its reported IPO.
“It didn’t take [the jury] two hours to conclude… that the case of Mr. Musk is nothing more than an untruthful misrepresentation,” said OpenAI’s lead attorney, Bill Savitt, after the ruling. This lawsuit is a bogus attempt to destroy a competitor.”
Microsoft, which Musk accused of aiding and abetting OpenAI’s alleged breach of the charity trust, has accepted the decision. A spokesperson for the company said it “remains committed to our work with OpenAI to develop and scale AI for people and organizations around the world.”
The decision came during a trial to determine possible damages for Musk if the decision had gone the other way. While that discussion is still ongoing, the judge appeared unconvinced by the analogy Musk’s lawyers are drawing between his philanthropic donations and investments in for-profit startups.
“Your analysis seems out of touch with the basic facts,” he told Dr. C. Paul Wazzan, the expert who came up with Musk’s estimate of OpenAI and Microsoft’s negative benefits at his expense-$78.8 billion to $135 billion.
Contacted for comment by TechCrunch, Musk’s senior adviser Marc Toberoff said, “One word: Apply.”
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