Elon Musk lost the biggest AI lawsuit in history Monday, and he wasn't even in the room to see it happen.

A nine-member jury in Oakland took under two hours to deliver a unanimous verdict Monday, dismissing all of Musk's claims against OpenAI, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft. The jury found that while Musk's allegations of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment might have merit, the statute of limitations had expired.

The jury determined Musk knew about his claims by 2021 but waited until 2024 to file suit, missing California's three-year limitation window. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers immediately accepted the jury's advisory verdict as her final decision, dismissing Musk's claims "on the spot."

"I've always said I would accept the jury's verdict," Rogers said. "I think there's a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury's finding."

The stakes could not have been higher. Musk sought $150 billion in damages and Altman's removal from OpenAI's board. He wanted the court to reverse OpenAI's conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status, potentially derailing the company's path to a $1 trillion IPO.

OpenAI lead attorney William Savitt told reporters the evidence that "Mr. Musk's lawsuit was an after-the-fact contrivance by a competitor was overwhelming." Jason Kwon, OpenAI's Chief Strategy Officer, celebrated with the trial team in the courthouse hallway.

Musk was in China with President Trump last week and never returned for the verdict. Neither Altman nor Brockman attended the reading either. The world's richest man spent three weeks attacking Altman's character in court, deployed five witnesses who called him untrustworthy, and used bridge metaphors with red markers on giant poster boards. The jury didn't even need lunch to decide.

Musk's attorneys immediately reserved the right to appeal. Co-counsel Marc Toberoff said simply "Appeal" and compared the case to the Battle of Bunker Hill, suggesting "who won the war?" remains to be seen. Lead attorney Steven Molo declined further comment.

The verdict clears the path for OpenAI's for-profit conversion and removes a major legal obstacle to its planned IPO. Microsoft spokesperson Alex Haurek said "the facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear." Meanwhile, SpaceX is expected to release its own IPO prospectus this week.

The three-week trial exposed details about Brockman's wealth and Altman's alleged dishonesty, but avoided the merits of Musk's claims entirely. The jury of six women and three men focused solely on when Musk knew or should have known about his grievances against the company he co-founded in 2015.

This wasn't just a legal defeat. It was a humiliation. The world's richest man lost the biggest AI lawsuit in history in under two hours, and he wasn't even in the room to see it happen. Altman walks out stronger than he went in. But as Musk's lawyers made clear: this isn't over.