A federal jury has rejected Elon Musk’s claims that OpenAI betrayed its original public-benefit mission under CEO Sam Altman. The verdict, reached Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, focused less on whether OpenAI changed its mission and more on whether Musk waited too long to bring the case. After nearly three weeks of testimony and about two hours of deliberation, the nine-member jury unanimously found that Musk’s claims were filed too late. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the verdict by saying there was “a substantial amount of evidence” to support the jury’s findings.
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Interestingly, the case grew out of a bitter fight between Musk and the OpenAI leaders with whom he had once helped launch the company in 2015. Musk’s legal team argued that Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman “stole a charity” by restructuring OpenAI into a for-profit business, while also pointing to the wealth created by OpenAI’s rise. Indeed, Brockman testified that his stake is close to $30 billion, while former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said his equity is worth about $7 billion. In addition, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella said that the tech company targeted a $92 billion return on its investment.
Unsurprisingly, OpenAI’s side pushed back by portraying Musk as a jealous rival who left after failing to gain full control and later launched xAI to compete directly with the company. Moreover, OpenAI argued that its founding mission remains intact through the OpenAI Foundation, which continues to govern the public benefit company that was created last year. Still, the fight is not fully over, because Musk’s xAI is also pursuing separate trade-secret theft and antitrust claims against OpenAI.
What Is the Prediction for TSLA Stock?
When it comes to Elon Musk’s companies, most of them are privately held. However, retail investors can invest in his most popular company, Tesla. Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 12 Buys, 12 Holds, and five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TSLA price target of $403.86 per share implies 1.1% downside risk.
