Elon Musk is seeking up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft, saying the companies obtained “wrongful gains” from his early support of the artificial intelligence firm he helped co-found, according to a filing in federal court reviewed by Reuters.
TL;DR
- Elon Musk filed court papers seeking as much as $134 billion in damages.
- He alleges OpenAI and Microsoft gained “wrongful profits” from his early contributions.
- OpenAI called the filing an “unserious demand.”
- Microsoft has not commented on the damages figure.
- A U.S. judge in Oakland allowed the case to proceed to a jury trial later this year.
The Filing
The filing, disclosed in San Francisco federal court, said Musk’s early involvement in OpenAI provided reputational and financial benefits that have since enriched the companies far beyond his initial contributions.
It estimated that OpenAI gained between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion from Musk’s role, while Microsoft gained between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion, according to valuation assessments cited in the case. Musk’s lead lawyer, Steven Molo, said: “Without Elon Musk, there’d be no OpenAI. He provided the bulk of the seed funding, lent his reputation, and taught them all he knows about scaling a business. A pre-eminent expert quantified the value of that.”
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OpenAI’s Response
In response, OpenAI described the damages claim as “an unserious demand” and part of what it called Musk’s “harassment campaign” against the company.
Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
Both companies have urged the court to reject the damages calculation as unreliable, saying Musk’s expert estimates are “unsupported” and “potentially misleading.”
What Comes Next
The case, being heard in Oakland, California, has been approved to move forward to a jury trial expected in April, according to court documents cited by Reuters.
The lawsuit expands on Musk’s prior claims that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission when it restructured and entered a deep commercial partnership with Microsoft.
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