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OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI began closing arguments Thursday in the landmark trial<\/a> whose outcome could shape the future of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Musk, the world’s richest man, was a co-founder of OpenAI, the company that launched in 2015 and went on to create ChatGPT. After Musk invested $38 million in its first years, his lawsuit filed in 2024 accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman<\/a> and his top deputy of shifting into a moneymaking mode behind his back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of the jury\u2019s tasks is to decide if Musk filed his lawsuit in time. Much of the testimony has centered on OpenAI\u2019s early years after its 2015 founding, but there\u2019s a relatively short timeline to allege the claims Musk is making of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The judge wrote in a court filing last month that \u201cif the jury finds that Musk failed to file his action within the statute of limitations, it is highly likely\u201d that she will \u201caccept that finding and direct verdict to the defendants.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If the jury decides that the lawsuit was filed in time, they then have to decide if OpenAI had a \u201ccharitable trust\u201d and that OpenAI and its executives broke that trust. Musk’s other claim means jurors must determine whether Altman, Greg Brockman \u2014 co-founder and president \u2014 and OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves at Musk’s expense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n