{"text":[[{"start":9.65,"text":"A California court has thrown out Elon Musk’s case against Sam Altman and OpenAI because it fell outside the statute of limitations, dealing a blow to the world’s wealthiest man and clearing a path to the AI lab’s initial public offering."}],[{"start":23.85,"text":"After just two hours of deliberation, nine jurors unanimously returned a verdict that Musk’s claims were brought beyond the statute of limitations, sweeping away legal issues that had loomed over OpenAI’s plans to go public as early as this year."}],[{"start":38,"text":"Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she would accept the jury’s verdict, which unusually was advisory rather than a final decision."}],[{"start":47.4,"text":"“I think there is a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s findings, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot,” the judge said."}],[{"start":55.3,"text":"Musk said on Monday afternoon that he would appeal against the decision in the US Ninth Circuit “because creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America”."}],[{"start":67.3,"text":"The judgment concluded a month-long trial in which the credibility and trustworthiness of Musk, OpenAI’s chief executive Altman and its president Greg Brockman — and their suitability to control powerful AI technology — were called into question."}],[{"start":82,"text":"Musk called on the court to extract damages of $134bn from OpenAI and Microsoft, remove Altman and Brockman and reverse the AI lab’s conversion to a for-profit."}],[{"start":94.95,"text":"The Tesla chief brought the case in 2024, framing it as a fight for the soul of AI, a technology he described as “perhaps the greatest existential threat we face today”. "}],[{"start":107,"text":"He claimed that Altman and Brockman had breached their contract with him by turning the company they co-founded as a charity in 2015 into a for-profit entity. Musk donated $38mn to the group before departing after a power struggle in 2018."}],[{"start":123.7,"text":"Musk had accused Altman and Brockman of “stealing a charity”, while Altman’s lawyers have said the protracted lawsuit and three-week trial were a “pageant of hypocrisy”."}],[{"start":133.9,"text":"The evidence put forward by Musk’s lawyers focused on the period when he was working for OpenAI, which fell well outside the four-year statute of limitations for his claims."}],[{"start":144,"text":"But Musk’s attorneys argued that Altman and Brockman “intentionally concealed their fraudulent conduct, which prevented Musk from discovering their scheme”. "}],[{"start":151.9,"text":"Musk learned of the breach in 2022, when reports emerged that Microsoft was planning a major investment into OpenAI, his legal team claimed. He texted Altman at the time that the deal “feels like a bait and switch”. "}],[{"start":166.15,"text":"The Oakland jury rejected the idea that Musk was unaware of OpenAI’s move towards a for-profit structure before 2022. Gonzalez Rogers immediately accepted their verdict, dismissing Musk’s claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment."}],[{"start":181.70000000000002,"text":"The jury heard evidence that Musk discussed converting OpenAI into a for-profit entity that he would control, or folding the AI lab into his electric-car maker Tesla."}],[{"start":192.45000000000002,"text":"In closing arguments on Thursday, OpenAI’s attorney Sarah Eddy told the jury that Musk’s case was “a textbook example” of why the statute of limitations was vital."}],[{"start":203.8,"text":"“So people don’t run into court years after the events in question manufacturing claims that are convenient to them when memories are faded and evidence is lost,” she said."}],[{"start":213.60000000000002,"text":"Despite their victory, the trial has been a costly distraction for Altman and OpenAI as they face fierce competition from Anthropic — and has made public details and internal communications that were embarrassing for OpenAI’s leadership. "}],[{"start":227.25000000000003,"text":"Both sides sought to portray their opposition as motivated by commercial success rather than the good of humanity, which is OpenAI’s stated mission."}],[{"start":235.55000000000004,"text":"Musk’s legal team zeroed in on Brockman’s diaries, which exposed how questions about the future of humanity jarred with personal ambition during deliberations about the company’s future in 2017 and 2018. "}],[{"start":248.10000000000005,"text":"“This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon . . . Financially, what will take me to $1bn?” Brockman wrote in September 2017, as the parties debated the best structure for OpenAI."}],[{"start":261.25000000000006,"text":"On the witness stand, Brockman revealed that his personal stake in OpenAI was now worth $30bn."}],[{"start":269.50000000000006,"text":"The case also focused on Altman’s firing in 2023, when the board pushed him out of the company for being “not consistently candid”. Altman was rapidly reinstated, but former executives and board members described to the jury how they were misled. "}],[{"start":285.45000000000005,"text":"Still, the court’s decision hands a big victory to OpenAI and is the latest legal setback for Musk."}],[{"start":292.25000000000006,"text":"Altman and OpenAI’s lawyers consistently argued that Musk’s suit was baseless and was filed as a last-ditch attempt to narrow the company’s lead over xAI, the rival AI lab Musk launched in 2023. "}],[{"start":306.05000000000007,"text":"They point out that xAI was launched as a for-profit despite Musk’s stated belief that powerful AI should be in the hands of a non-profit and his testimony that he only devoted his money and time to OpenAI because it was a charity."}],[{"start":320.1500000000001,"text":"The trial has revealed in greater detail how the small, non-profit research lab transformed into an $852bn for-profit with the backing of some of the world’s largest companies. "}],[{"start":332.2000000000001,"text":"It has highlighted the difficulty of developing such powerful technology in a corporate structure that balances the public interest and the ability to raise the tens of billions required to remain competitive."}],[{"start":344.9000000000001,"text":"After restructuring as a for-profit, OpenAI handed a large ownership stake and certain governance rights to a charitable arm, the OpenAI Foundation, in an arrangement that remains under the supervision of US state officials."}],[{"start":358.1000000000001,"text":"“This technical decision may put an end to the legal battle between Musk and Altman, but we are likely to see ongoing scrutiny over whether OpenAI operates to advance its non-profit obligations,” said Jill Horwitz, a professor at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law."}],[{"start":381.15000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779156343_7188.mp3"}