Jury Clears Microsoft and OpenAI as Musk Lawsuit Deemed Time-Barred

On May 18 a federal jury in Oakland unanimously found Elon Musk’s claims against OpenAI, Sam Altman and Microsoft time-barred after less than two hours of deliberation, clearing the defendants on all three claims that reached trial. The verdict ends a three-week proceeding that featured Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s May 11 testimony and internal projections of a $92 billion return on the company’s $13 billion OpenAI investment. Microsoft’s roughly 27% stake, now valued at about $135 billion, is freed from immediate legal overhang, lowering near-term regulatory and reputational risk around the AI partnership.