ITALY PERSPECTIVE

Rome, May 18, 2026. In less than two hours of deliberations, a California jury unanimously rejected Elon Musk's accusations against Sam Altman and OpenAI: the lawsuit had been filed after the statute of limitations had expired. The ANSA agency notes that Musk was not found liable on the merits of his grievances, which allows him to claim that he was only defeated on a procedural rule. "A battle of Silicon Valley giants," the agency's economic service titles, summarizing a confrontation presented as one of the most emblematic AI trials.

The dispute dates back to the founding of OpenAI in 2015. Musk had co-founded the structure alongside Altman and other sector personalities, contributing $38 million to it — an investment he had himself described as naivety in court testimony: "Sono stato uno sciocco" (I was an idiot), he declared. He left the board of directors in 2018, before suing Altman in 2024, accusing him of having betrayed the organization's original mission — to develop AI for the benefit of humanity — by transforming it into a profit-making enterprise. Musk sought $180 billion in damages and the removal of Altman and President Greg Brockman.

Altman's defense argued that Musk was fully aware of the transition to the profit-making model, and that he had sought to take control of the structure before filing a lawsuit after being rebuffed. Lawyers described Musk as a "hypocrisy show," a phrase repeated by ANSA without additional editorial comment. "Hanno rubato da un'associazione di beneficenza" (they stole from a charitable association), Musk had accused in court.

For Italian media, the issue goes beyond the conflict between two billionaires. The verdict comes just months before OpenAI's IPO, on which Musk weighed as a direct threat: the startup's victory is presented as a "breakthrough" that secures its access to capital markets. Conversely, for Musk and his subsidiary xAI — recently merged with SpaceX — the judgment constitutes a "heavy blow," even if the procedural motivation attenuates its symbolic impact.

ANSA closes its analysis by noting that this verdict fits into a global context of concern over the power of AI models. This is evident in Mythos, the latest model from Anthropic, described as worrying for regulators worldwide due to its ability to cause harm in the wrong hands.