<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elon Musk waited too long to sue OpenAI and its leaders, a jury decided, after a lawsuit he filed was barred by the statute of limitations</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury made its decision after about 90 minutes of deliberation and their verdict was advisory, but Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she agreed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The court now confirms the prior indication that it would accept the jury's findings as its own," Rogers said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-news-woman-and-two-kids-found-dead-in-campbelltown/eacd6982-9c69-421e-a35b-12d052472649"><strong><span>Man charged with killing woman, two children in Sydney home</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think that there's a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury's finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk helped cofound and fund OpenAI, giving $US38 million ($53 million) in its early years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He sued chief executive Sam Altman, company president Greg Brockman and OpenAI in February 2024, alleging that they "stole a charity" and unjustly enriched themselves when they shifted to a structure that included a for-profit arm.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-lawsuit-tesla-owner-loses-case/236dd0c8-b609-45d4-af93-1ee4887d3323" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was a fool," Musk told the court earlier this month. "I gave them free funding to create a start-up."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk's case threatened to derail the ChatGPT maker as it planned what could be a blockbuster IPO. The jury's decision is a win for OpenAI and its founders, Altman and Brockman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>OpenAI's attorneys argued the company's mission had not changed, that it was still run by a non-profit foundation board, and that Musk waited to file the suit until after he founded his own competing artificial intelligence company, xAI.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/usa-news-san-diego-mosque-shooting-active-situation-at-islamic-centre/c593c580-2ef8-43a3-b812-35f5759ac553" rel="" target="_blank" title="Five dead after gunmen open fire at US mosque"><strong><span>Five dead after gunmen open fire at US mosque</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury agreed, finding that Musk was aware of the behaviour discussed in the lawsuit as early as 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The finding of the jury confirms that what this lawsuit was was a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor," William Savitt, OpenAI's attorney, said after the verdict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The fact is that OpenAI is a not-for-profit, mission-driven organisation that has been and will continue to be faithful to that mission."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>OpenAI's attorneys also argued during the trial that Musk's donations did not come with a commitment to stay a non-profit and that the Tesla chief executive at various points pushed for OpenAI to create a for-profit entity to compete with Google.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They also said Musk tried to gain control of the for-profit entity and left the company when he failed to do so.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk asked the court to force OpenAI to pay back more than $US130 billion to OpenAI's non-profit arm, remove Altman and Brockman from their leadership roles and unwind the corporate restructuring that turned OpenAI into one of the world's most valuable tech companies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/anthony-albanese-capital-gains-tax-changes-meme-trend/677d3bec-ed50-4b16-ae90-a3de339dffd6" target="_blank" title="Business owners mock Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's CGT changes with AI meme trend"><strong><span>Business owners mock Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's CGT changes with AI meme trend</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Shivon Zilis, an executive at Musk's companies, former OpenAI board member and mother of four of Musk's children, were among the high-profile witnesses who testified.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of pages worth of private emails, text messages and internal meeting notes were submitted as evidence, including Brockman's personal diaries, and texts between Musk and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg discussing possibly trying to buy OpenAI together.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial revealed Google's role in OpenAI's founding as the AI lab sought to surpass what was then considered the leader in the nascent AI race.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It also revealed the many fundraising options OpenAI considered to support its computing and infrastructure needs, including cryptocurrency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk's romantic relationship was also in the spotlight, as Zilis' testimony revealed the two had been romantically connected far longer than was previously known.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Details about how she served as a conduit to Musk about OpenAI after his departure were also revealed in court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-politics-live-updates-donald-trump-iran-israel-may-19-aussies-on-gaza-flotilla/c7c55ee3-144b-4c78-846b-13320861c456" target="_blank" title="Eleven Australians onboard Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israel"><strong><span>Eleven Australians onboard Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israel</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Microsoft was also named as a codefendant for "aiding and abetting" the claims through its investments in OpenAI. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and started his own AI company, xAI, in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear, and we welcome the jury's decision to dismiss these claims as untimely," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement after the jury's decision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk called Rogers a "terrible activist" judge who "creates such a terrible precedent" in a </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2056472426658058358" rel="" target="" title=""><span>post</span></a><span> on his social media platform, X.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She just handed out a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years!" he wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Musk's lead attorney, Marc Toberoff, said at a press conference after the verdict that they planned to appeal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This at its core is a travesty, and but for Musk, they get away with it and they shouldn't," Toberoff said.</span></div></div>