Musk Seeks Up to $134bn in Damages from OpenAI, Microsoft

Elon Musk has filed court papers seeking as much as $134 billion in compensation from OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that both companies profited unlawfully from his early backing of the artificial intelligence pioneer.

According to legal filings submitted on Friday ahead of a federal court hearing, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of X claims he is entitled to recover what he describes as “ill-gotten gains” generated from his foundational role in OpenAI.

Musk alleges that OpenAI accrued between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion in value as a direct result of his contributions after he co-founded the organization in 2015, while Microsoft is said to have gained between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion through its partnership with the AI firm.

Neither OpenAI, Microsoft nor Musk had commented publicly on the latest filing outside normal business hours. OpenAI has previously dismissed the lawsuit as baseless, characterizing it as part of a broader campaign of harassment. Microsoft’s legal representatives have also rejected claims that the company improperly supported or encouraged OpenAI’s actions.

Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 and now runs xAI, argues that OpenAI violated its original mission by undergoing a sweeping restructuring that shifted it towards a for-profit model. OpenAI is the developer behind ChatGPT, one of the world’s most widely used generative AI systems.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Oakland, California, ruled that the case should proceed to a jury trial, which is currently expected to begin in April. Court documents state that Musk contributed about $38 million, around 60% of OpenAI’s early founding capital, while also helping recruit staff, connect the founders with influential contacts and lend credibility to the venture at its inception.

The filing maintains that the financial benefits allegedly reaped by OpenAI and Microsoft now far exceed Musk’s initial investment, forming the basis of his claim for substantial restitution as the high-profile legal battle over the future and governance of artificial intelligence intensifies.