OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI began closing arguments Thursday in the whose outcome could shape the future of artificial intelligence.
Musk, the world’s richest man, was a co-founder of OpenAI, the company that launched in 2015 and went on to create ChatGPT. After Musk invested $38 million in its first years, his lawsuit filed in 2024 accused and his top deputy of shifting into a moneymaking mode behind his back.
One of the jury鈥檚 tasks is to decide if Musk filed his lawsuit in time. Much of the testimony has centered on OpenAI鈥檚 early years after its 2015 founding, but there鈥檚 a relatively short timeline to allege the claims Musk is making of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.
The judge wrote in a court filing last month that 鈥渋f the jury finds that Musk failed to file his action within the statute of limitations, it is highly likely鈥� that she will 鈥渁ccept that finding and direct verdict to the defendants.鈥�
If the jury decides that the lawsuit was filed in time, they then have to decide if OpenAI had a 鈥渃haritable trust鈥� and that OpenAI and its executives broke that trust. Musk’s other claim means jurors must determine whether Altman, Greg Brockman 鈥� co-founder and president 鈥� and OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves at Musk’s expense.
For Microsoft, a co-defendant in the trial, the jury has to decide whether the company aided and abetted that breach.
Musk’s attorney, Steven Molo, told jurors Thursday morning that the Tesla CEO is 鈥渟orry he could not be here.鈥�
with President Donald Trump and other prominent tech executives.
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O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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