New York, January 7, 2026, 21:19 (EST) — Market closed
- Judge clears Elon Musk’s lawsuit over OpenAI’s for-profit shift for a March jury trial; Microsoft remains a defendant
- Microsoft shares end Wednesday up about 1% as investors rotate back into AI-linked stocks
- Traders turn to Microsoft’s late-month results for clues on Azure demand and AI spending
A U.S. judge cleared Elon Musk’s lawsuit challenging OpenAI’s push toward a for-profit structure for a jury trial in March, keeping Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in the case after it asked the court to dismiss the claims. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said there was “plenty of evidence” OpenAI leaders had assured Musk its nonprofit structure would be maintained. Microsoft stock rose 1.0% to close at $483.47, after trading between $476.22 and $489.68, valuing the company at about $3.85 trillion. 1
The ruling drops legal noise into a market that has treated Microsoft’s OpenAI tie-up as a central plank of its pitch on generative AI — tools that produce text, code and images — and cloud demand. Investors have been jumpy around anything that could slow deployments, reroute spending or pull executives into court.
It also hit as traders swung back toward heavyweight AI names on Wednesday, lifting the Nasdaq even as the S&P 500 ended lower. Data showing U.S. job openings fell more than expected in November kept the debate alive over growth, rates and what big tech is worth when money is not cheap. 2
Separately, OpenAI set aside an employee stock grant pool equivalent to 10% of the company, valued at $500 billion in October, The Information reported, citing two people with knowledge of the plans. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. For Microsoft investors, anything that reshapes OpenAI’s ownership and incentives can feed back into how they handicap the partnership. 3
Microsoft also popped up in the power-market conversation this week after Midcontinent Independent System Operator said it will deploy Microsoft technology to help predict and respond to weather-related grid disruptions and to plan transmission lines. “Such acceleration is critical,” said Nirav Shah, MISO’s vice president and chief information and digital officer, pointing to rising demand and the growth of data centers; no financial details were disclosed. Google last year struck a similar deal with PJM Interconnection, underscoring how Big Tech’s data-center build is colliding with grid constraints. 4
But the OpenAI litigation could still turn into a slow-burn overhang if it forces disclosures around the relationship or raises the chance of damages and remedies that weren’t in the market. And the usual tech risk remains: if cloud growth or margins soften while AI infrastructure bills keep climbing, the stock can give back ground fast.
Investors now look to Microsoft’s fiscal second-quarter results for a cleaner read on Azure demand, AI capacity and spending discipline. Microsoft has scheduled its earnings release for January 28, with the conference call set for 2:30 p.m. PT. 5
