Oakland Jury Dismisses Musk Suit, Clearing Path to Market Focus
An Oakland jury found Musk’s claims time-barred, prompting an appeal and shifting attention to valuations, IPO plans and xAI’s competitive struggles.
TIME MagazineMusk’s Failed OpenAI Lawsuit Underscores xAI’s Struggles
MIT Technology ReviewRoundtables: Inside the Musk v. Altman Trial
TechCrunchElon Musk said Sam Altman 'stole' a non-profit — but the trial showed he had similar aims | TechCrunch
World News GroupCalifornia jury tosses Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Overview
An Oakland jury took under two hours to unanimously dismiss Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, according to court coverage.
Musk had sought to reverse OpenAI's for-profit conversion and to recover roughly $150 billion for the nonprofit.
Musk's lawyers said they will appeal to the 9th Circuit, and Musk posted that the decision was a "calendar technicality".
OpenAI is valued at more than $850 billion, xAI was reportedly about $250 billion, and SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion in February, while Grok downloads fell by about 60% since January.
Attention now turns to an expected appeal and to corporate plans, with Musk's lawyers saying they will appeal and both SpaceX and OpenAI preparing for potential public offerings.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the trial as a spectacle exposing billionaire rivalries and governance risks, using loaded terms (e.g., 'dirty laundry', 'laid bare'), privileging expert and protest voices that stress systemic AI dangers, and curating quotes about Altman's truthfulness and Musk's outbursts. Structural choices foreground reputation and IPO stakes over legal technicalities.