A major legal battle is unfolding in the technology world as Elon Musk moves to claim billions in alleged wrongful gains from OpenAI and Microsoft. Court documents filed in California on Friday show Musk seeking up to $134 billion (€115.4 billion), arguing that the companies benefited unfairly from work and funding he helped provide in OpenAI’s early years.
Musk, who cofounded OpenAI in 2015, claims the organization has drifted away from its original nonprofit mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI now primarily serves the commercial interests of Microsoft, its largest partner and investor, rather than the public good that was promised at the start.
Musk’s legal team relies on an expert assessment by financial economist, C. Paul Wazzan. The filing states that Musk contributed about $38 million in early funding and offered valuable industry connections and expertise. Based on these inputs, Wazzan estimates that Musk is entitled to a portion of OpenAI’s current valuation, which he places between $65.5 billion and $109.43 billion. In addition, Musk is seeking between $13.3 billion and $25.06 billion from Microsoft. Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo wrote, “Just as an early investor in a startup company may realize gains many orders of magnitude greater than the investor’s initial investment, the wrongful gains that OpenAI Microsoft have earned — and which Mr. Musk is now entitled to disgorge — are much larger than Mr. Musk’s initial contributions,”
OpenAI has pushed back strongly against the claims, calling the lawsuit another attempt to revive old arguments. The company says the legal action is part of a broader pattern of harassment aimed at slowing its progress and benefiting Musk’s own artificial intelligence venture, xAI, founded in 2023. In a public statement titled “The truth Elon left out,” OpenAI accused Musk of “grossly misrepresenting the written record” to “further his harassment.” Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and now leads xAI, whose chatbot Grok competes directly with ChatGPT.
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