A federal jury in Oakland ruled Monday against Elon Musk in his high-profile lawsuit targeting OpenAI, determining that the billionaire filed the case after the legal deadline had already passed.

The unanimous decision came less than two hours after deliberations began, bringing an end to a closely watched three-week trial that drew major attention across Silicon Valley and the tech world.

Following the verdict, Musk’s attorney told the court that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO plans to preserve his right to appeal.

The courtroom battle featured testimony from several of the biggest figures in artificial intelligence and technology, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and Musk adviser Shivon Zilis.

Musk — who contributed roughly $38 million to OpenAI before later launching his own AI venture, xAI — had sought approximately $150 billion in damages and wanted the court to dismantle OpenAI’s for-profit structure.

The lawsuit accused Altman, Brockman and OpenAI of abandoning the organization’s original charitable mission by creating a for-profit arm that later attracted billions of dollars in investment. Musk also alleged that Microsoft helped advance the effort through its reported $13 billion investment into OpenAI.

During testimony earlier in the trial, Musk repeatedly argued that OpenAI had betrayed its founding purpose.

“This lawsuit is very simple: It is not OK to steal a charity,” Musk said from the witness stand.

At another point in the proceedings, jurors heard about a message Musk allegedly sent Altman after details of Microsoft’s investment became public, describing the arrangement as a “bait and switch.”

Altman and the other defendants maintained throughout the trial that Musk not only knew about OpenAI’s transition toward a for-profit model, but had supported the idea at the time. Lawyers for OpenAI introduced evidence they said showed Musk agreeing that raising traditional investor funding through equity was necessary to compete with major tech firms such as Google.

Brockman also testified about a 2017 meeting held at one of Musk’s homes, where senior OpenAI figures — including Altman, former chief technology officer Mira Murati and Zilis — discussed the organization’s future.

According to Brockman, it was “clear there was a party there the night before,” with the residence covered in “confetti and cups.”

Brockman testified that whiskey was served during the gathering and that conversations about launching a for-profit entity carried a “celebratory” atmosphere.

One attorney who attended much of the trial but was not connected to the case said Musk’s arguments appeared stronger as proceedings unfolded, particularly during Altman’s cross-examination.

“Musk has more of a case here than previously thought,” said the attorney. “The first 15 minutes of Altman’s cross-examination were devastating.”

Questions surrounding Altman’s credibility became a central focus for Musk’s legal team. Attorneys for Musk pointed to testimony from former OpenAI board members Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, as well as Murati, who suggested Altman was not always consistent or truthful in his dealings.

“My concern was about Sam saying one thing to one person and completely the opposite to another person,” Murati said in recorded testimony played for jurors.

In closing arguments last week, Musk attorney Steven Molo used a dramatic analogy to challenge Altman’s credibility before the jury.

“Imagine that you’re on a hike, and you come upon one of those wooden bridges that you see on a trail and it’s over a gorge,” Molo said.

“There’s a river that’s 100 feet below and it looks a little scary, but a woman standing by the entry to the bridge says, ‘Don’t worry, the bridge is built on Sam Altman’s version of the truth.’”

“Would you walk across that bridge? I don’t think many people would,” the lawyer added.

Altman pushed back on Musk’s accusations while testifying last week, responding to Musk’s repeated claim that OpenAI had effectively “stolen” a charity.

“It feels difficult to even wrap my head around that framing,” Altman said.