Elon Musk loses OpenAI lawsuit against Sam Altman

May 18, 2026

Musk lost his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, a bad outcome for Musk as he tries to build up his rival AI company.

  • A jury rejected Musk's claim that OpenAI betrayed its nonprofit mission by going for-profit, ruling he waited too long to sue.
  • Musk put money in OpenAI back in 2015 but did not file the lawsuit until 2024, and the jury took only two hours to side against him.
  • Court testimony painted Musk badly: OpenAI's co-founder said Musk does not understand AI, and described Musk storming out of a meeting and seeming ready to physically attack him.
  • A former OpenAI board member testified Musk offered to donate his sperm to people around the office, including her.
  • On the same day, news broke that Musk's xAI failed to pay staff a promised $420 bonus for handing over their tax returns to train the Grok chatbot.

Outlook: Musk plans to sue again over trade secret theft and antitrust claims as xAI tries to catch up to OpenAI.

← Latest · Archive