Elon Musk suffered a crushing defeat in his legal battle against OpenAI as a federal jury and judge ruled he waited too long to bring his claims. The nine-member panel found that statutes of limitations expired well before Musk filed his lawsuit, leaving him with no substantive ruling on his three claims.

The trial, which was described by one of Musk's attorneys as like the Battles of Charleston and Bunker Hill for America, saw OpenAI's lawyers hugging in the courtroom after the verdict. However, Musk vowed to appeal, stating that losing 'is not a technical decision but a substantive one'.

The case brought to light new details about OpenAI executives’ wealth and their use of Microsoft’s funds to grow the company into an enormous player far beyond its nonprofit roots. While the judge dismissed the claims on a technicality, Musk accused her of handing out 'a free license to loot charities.'

Despite the setback, the trial appears to have tarnished OpenAI's public image and raised questions about the future of the tech giant in the AI race with Tesla’s SpaceX.