AUCKLAND, May 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Monday ruled that Elon Musk lost his lawsuit against OpenAI, concluding that the artificial intelligence firm was not liable to Musk for deviating from its original mission of serving humanity.

In a unanimous ruling, the jury in federal court in Oakland, California, said Musk filed the lawsuit too late.

The trial began on April 28. The case was widely considered a pivotal moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence in general, both in terms of how it is used and who benefits from it, including the financial aspect.

People use artificial intelligence for countless purposes, including education, facial recognition, financial consulting, journalism, legal research, medical diagnoses, as well as in malicious acts of forgery.

Many express distrust of this technology and fear that it will lead to people losing their jobs.

The verdict came after 11 days of testimony and arguments in which the credibility of Musk and Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, came under repeated attack.

Each side accused the other of being more interested in money than in serving the public.

In his closing argument, Musk’s lawyer, Steven Mollo, reminded the jury that several witnesses had questioned Altman’s honesty or called him a liar, and that Musk had not given a definitive yes when asked during the trial whether he was completely trustworthy.

"Sam Altman's credibility is the issue at hand," Mollo said. "If you don't believe him, they can't win."

Musk accused OpenAI of prioritizing profit over the non-profit organization and failing to prioritize the safety of artificial intelligence. He also claimed that Microsoft knew all along that OpenAI cared more about money than about the well-being of others.

OpenAI responded that Musk was the one who saw signs of profit, and that he waited too long before claiming that the company had violated its founding agreement aimed at building safe artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

William Savitt, OpenAI's lawyer, said in his closing argument that Musk may have exceptional profit-making abilities in some areas, "but not in the field of artificial intelligence."

OpenAI is competing with other AI companies, including Anthropic and XAI, and is preparing for a potential initial public offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion.

Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, according to testimony from a Microsoft executive.

Musk's XAI is now part of his aerospace company SpaceX, which is preparing for an initial public offering that could exceed the size of OpenAI's offering.