Musk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong people

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. AI AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All AI Policy PolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Policy Report ReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All ReportMusk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong peoplePublic opinion of the AI industry is already sinking. A parade of untrustworthy executives makes it look worse.

Technical Details

by Hayden Field Hayden FieldSenior AI ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Hayden FieldMay 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images AI AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All AI Policy PolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All Policy Report ReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All ReportMusk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong peoplePublic opinion of the AI industry is already sinking.

A parade of untrustworthy executives makes it look worse. by Hayden Field Hayden FieldSenior AI ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Hayden FieldMay 18, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC Part OfLIVEAll of the updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s battle over OpenAIsee all updates Hayden Field Hayden FieldPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Industry Implications

FollowSee All by Hayden Field is The Verge’s senior AI reporter. An AI beat reporter for more than five years, her work has also appeared in CNBC, MIT Technology Review, Wired UK, and other outlets. The tech trial of the year, Musk v.

Altman, was ultimately a fight for control. Elon Musk argued that Sam Altman, with whom he helped found the now-massive company OpenAI, shouldn’t direct the future of AI. Altman’s lawyers, in turn, poked at Musk’s own credibility.

A jury came to a verdict on Monday after just two hours of deliberation, dismissing Musk’s claims due to the statute of limitations. In a strictly legal sense, three weeks of testimony added up to nothing. But the trial offered a more damning broader takeaway: Almost nobody in this saga seems worth trusting.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.