Monday 18 May 2026 19:06 BST Bookmark The trial was widely seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it. After the verdict, Musk's lawyer said he reserved the right to appeal but the judge suggested he may have an uphill battle because whether the statute of limitations ran out before Musk sued was a factual issue. The jury served in an advisory role during the trial but Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the verdict as the court’s own and dismissed Musk’s claims. open image in gallery The trial began on April 28 and was widely seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence (AFP via Getty Images) "There's a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury's finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot," Rogers said. In his 2024 lawsuit, Musk accused OpenAI, its Chief Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman of manipulating him into giving $38 million, then going behind his back by attaching a for-profit business to its original nonprofit and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors. Musk called the OpenAI defendants' conduct "stealing a charity." OpenAI was founded by Altman, Musk and several others in 2015. Musk left its board in 2018, and OpenAI set up a for-profit business the next year. People use AI for myriad purposes such as education, facial recognition, financial advice, journalism, legal research, medical diagnoses, and harmful deep-fakes. Many people express distrust of the technology and worry it could displace people from their jobs.