OpenAI avoided a costly court loss to Elon Musk, but neither side is unscathed

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — After prevailing in its court fight with Elon Musk, OpenAI — the ChatGPT maker valued at $852 billion — remains on track for what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history.

Musk had been seeking the ouster of his fellow OpenAI co-founder, CEO Sam Altman, among other changes to the company. But with testimony from witnesses who called Altman dishonest, he’s hardly emerged unscathed.

At a time of growing concern about artificial intelligence's impacts, the landmark trial also shed new light on the flaws and outsize ambitions of the small number of billionaires steering the development of the breakthrough technology.

The trial was a reminder, said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, “of how much the future of AI still depends on a remarkably small group of powerful tech figures and their personal rivalries.”

“The trial highlighted not just a dispute between Musk and Altman, but a broader disconnect between the people building these systems and many of the people increasingly expected to live and work alongside them," Kreps said.

Musk had accused OpenAI, Altman and his top lieutenant Greg Brockman of betraying a shared vision for it to remain a nonprofit dedicated to guiding AI's development for the good of humanity. Altman, in turn, accused Musk of trying to hobble the ChatGPT maker for the benefit of his own AI company.

On Monday, the nine-person federal jury in Oakland, California, found that Musk waited too long to file his lawsuit and missed a statutory deadline. After a three-week trial that included hundreds of pieces of evidence and some of tech's biggest names on the stand, the jury deliberated less than two hours before returning a verdict essentially on a technicality.

Musk said he will appeal and called Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw the trial, a “terrible activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf" to create a bad precedent. “She just handed out a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.

It was the second major courtroom loss for Musk in less than two months.

Gonzalez Rogers made it clear early on in the trial that she did not want it to become a debate over AI's dangers. But the unresolved questions about the risks AI poses for job losses, mental health issues and even humanity’s extinction served as a backdrop for the proceedings, with protesters decrying both Musk and Altman becoming a regular presence outside the federal courthouse.

Demonstrators' signs declared the real losers were regular people whose lives are being upended by an industry controlled by out-of-touch billionaires who can’t get along.

“This is a funny microcosm of this moment where we have this hugely important technology that’s being developed by for-profit corporations run by people like Musk and Altman and not as the part of some government-led initiative,” said Columbia Law School professor Dorothy Lund.

The trial laid bare some of Silicon Valley's messy inner workings, with emails, diary entries and sometimes embarrassing text message exchanges shown as evidence. Texts between Altman and a former OpenAI executive became meme fodder and the subject of parody songs.

The trial shed light on Altman’s removal from the OpenAI board in 2023, before he returned to his role a few days later. Several witnesses including two ex-board members, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, said there were concerns about Altman’s truthfulness.

Throughout the trial, OpenAI brushed off Musk’s allegations of betrayal as an unfounded case of sour grapes aimed at undercutting the company's rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s own artificial intelligence company, xAI, which is now part of SpaceX.

Both Musk's SpaceX and OpenAI are planning massive initial public offerings, as is Anthropic, which was formed by a group of seven ex-OpenAI leaders.

“It’s a lot of dirty laundry that doesn’t look very appealing, I suppose, and so that may hurt their reputation and may have downstream effects on all kinds of things that you can’t even anticipate,” said University of Richmond Law School professor Carl Tobias. “But you know, AI is likely to come forward and continue even if it isn’t OpenAI.”

Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, is surrounded by media outside the U.S. District Court Monday, May 18, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Weyland)

Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, bottom middle, speaks to reporters outside the U.S. District Court, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Weyland)

Steven F. Molo, attorney for Elon Musk, second from left, speaks to reporters outside the U.S. District Court, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Weyland)

Bill Savitt, an attorney for OpenAI, speaks to the media after a jury ruled in the company's favor in a a federal trial in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Athletics starter J.T. Ginn took a no-hitter and a one-run lead into the ninth inning Monday night.

Six pitches later, he walked off the mound with a heartbreaking loss.

Adam Frazier lined a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Los Angeles Angels a 2-1 victory, stunning Ginn and the A’s while snapping a six-game skid.

“Obviously a tough game," Ginn said. "Just keep your head up and keep moving forward. It’s just the nature of the game that we play. I attack the zone and I live with that.”

Frazier lined an 0-2 pitch over shortstop for a clean single, giving Los Angeles only its third baserunner. Neto then drove a 2-0 sinker to center field for his eighth home run of the season.

“Just a crazy game to play," Ginn said. "I fell behind 2-0, threw a good sinker, and he was waiting on it and put a good swing on it. So, tip your cap to him.”

Ginn (2-2) was trying for the first no-hitter in the majors since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024. The previous pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter was Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.

The most recent A's no-hitter was thrown by Mike Fiers in May 2019 against Cincinnati.

Ginn threw a career-high 105 pitches, 64 for strikes. He struck out 10, walked one and hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

The right-hander from Mississippi, who turns 27 on Wednesday, fanned all three batters in the seventh to give him 10 strikeouts — setting a career high. But he became the sixth major league pitcher since at least 1974 to allow no hits or runs in the first eight innings of a game and still take the loss. Rich Hill was the previous one, for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Pittsburgh in August 2017.

“J.T. dominated all night. For him to walk off the mound with a loss there, it hurts, obviously,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "He pitched probably the best game he’s pitched in his big league career, and to have an opportunity to get a no-hitter, and two hits later you walk off with a loss, it’s tough. I had full confidence in him going out there in that inning at 100 pitches and trying to get it done. It just didn’t work out.”

Kotsay had lefty Hogan Harris warming up in the bullpen during the ninth inning and planned to bring him in to face Mike Trout, who was on deck when the game ended. Kotsay hoped Ginn, whose sinker had been effective all night, could induce a groundball from Neto.

“Hindsight’s always 20-20,” Kotsay said. “It easily could have went the other direction.”

Pinch-hitter Lawrence Butler put the A's ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the top of the ninth. The A's then loaded the bases before Angels reliever Chase Silseth got slugger Nick Kurtz to ground into an inning-ending double play.

“Kurtz doesn’t hit the ball on the ground a ton and they get out of that inning and momentum shifted a little bit,” Kotsay said. "It would have been nice to add on in that inning and give (Ginn) a little more cushion.”

It was the 30th career start for Ginn, who made his major league debut in August 2024.

“He did such a phenomenal job all night keeping guys off balance. His stuff was nasty. Just kind of rolling, you know, and then it’s gut-wrenching stuff in the ninth for it to end that way. It definitely sucks right now," Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers said. "Baseball will humble you in all sorts of ways. ... It’s going to be hard to flush this one.”

The Angels haven't been no-hit since Sept. 11, 1999 — the longest active streak in the majors. In that game, they lost 7-0 at Minnesota, shut down by Twins pitcher Eric Milton.

The last visiting pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Angels in Anaheim was Rangers right-hander and Hall of Famer Burt Blyleven on Sept. 22, 1977, in a 6-0 Texas triumph.

The last A’s starting pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the ninth inning was Vida Blue against Detroit in 1976.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto (9) is greeted by teammates after hitting a walk0ff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto (9) reacts after hitting a walkoff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto is douced after hitting a walkoff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom reacts during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)