Jury weighs claims, deadlines in Musk-OpenAI case

May 15, 2026

Summary

California jurors are weighing narrow claims and defenses in Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI, Altman, Brockman, and Microsoft.

Why this matters

The verdict could affect OpenAI’s corporate structure and how courts assess donor restrictions, nonprofit governance, and commercial partnerships in artificial intelligence. It also may shape how nonprofit-backed technology groups balance public missions with private financing.

Nine California jurors are deliberating in Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, as well as Microsoft.

Jurors are weighing three claims: breach of charitable trust, unjust enrichment, and aiding and abetting breach of charitable trust. The case centers on whether Musk’s donations to OpenAI were subject to specific conditions requiring charitable use, and whether those donations were later used to benefit OpenAI’s for-profit arm and its investors.

Microsoft’s role is narrower. Jurors must decide whether the company knew Musk had specific conditions on his donations and whether it played a significant role in causing him harm.

They also will consider OpenAI’s defenses: that Musk sued after the statute of limitations expired, that he unreasonably delayed filing until 2024, and that his conduct bars his claims under the legal doctrine of unclean hands. OpenAI argued that any harm would have had to occur before Aug. 5, 2021, on the first count, Aug. 5, 2022, on the second, and Nov. 14, 2021, on another count for those claims to be time-barred.

Musk’s lawyers argued that he backed OpenAI to support a nonprofit intended to broadly share the benefits of artificial intelligence and avoid concentration of control. They said Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI’s for-profit affiliate in 2023 showed a shift away from that mission and toward commercial gain.

OpenAI’s lawyers responded that no witness identified specific restrictions on Musk’s donations, including Jared Birchall, Sam Teller, and Shivon Zilis. They said private fundraising was always understood to be necessary, and noted that Musk had proposed for-profit structures involving OpenAI, including one tied to Tesla.

OpenAI also cited testimony from a forensic accountant who said Musk’s donations were spent before Aug. 5, 2021. Its lawyers argued that Musk could have known years earlier about OpenAI’s structure through fundraising documents, public statements, and his own public criticism, and that Zilis voted to approve transactions at issue.

Microsoft witnesses testified that the company found no evidence of donation restrictions and never used any veto rights over OpenAI decisions.

OpenAI argued that Musk’s role ended in 2018, his last donations were made in 2020, and his lawsuit followed OpenAI’s rise after ChatGPT.

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Nine California jurors are deliberating in Elon Musk’s case against OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, as well as Microsoft.

Jurors are weighing three claims: breach of charitable trust, unjust enrichment, and aiding and abetting breach of charitable trust. The case centers on whether Musk’s donations to OpenAI were subject to specific conditions requiring charitable use, and whether those donations were later used to benefit OpenAI’s for-profit arm and its investors.

Microsoft’s role is narrower. Jurors must decide whether the company knew Musk had specific conditions on his donations and whether it played a significant role in causing him harm.

They also will consider OpenAI’s defenses: that Musk sued after the statute of limitations expired, that he unreasonably delayed filing until 2024, and that his conduct bars his claims under the legal doctrine of unclean hands. OpenAI argued that any harm would have had to occur before Aug. 5, 2021, on the first count, Aug. 5, 2022, on the second, and Nov. 14, 2021, on another count for those claims to be time-barred.

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OpenAI’s lawyers responded that no witness identified specific restrictions on Musk’s donations, including Jared Birchall, Sam Teller, and Shivon Zilis. They said private fundraising was always understood to be necessary, and noted that Musk had proposed for-profit structures involving OpenAI, including one tied to Tesla.

OpenAI also cited testimony from a forensic accountant who said Musk’s donations were spent before Aug. 5, 2021. Its lawyers argued that Musk could have known years earlier about OpenAI’s structure through fundraising documents, public statements, and his own public criticism, and that Zilis voted to approve transactions at issue.

Microsoft witnesses testified that the company found no evidence of donation restrictions and never used any veto rights over OpenAI decisions.

OpenAI argued that Musk’s role ended in 2018, his last donations were made in 2020, and his lawsuit followed OpenAI’s rise after ChatGPT.