If you’ve been keeping up with tech news for the past couple of years, you must be aware of Elon Musk’s long-running lawsuit battle with OpenAI. For those unaware, the lawsuit dates back to February 2024. That’s when Musk first sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. Musk has alleged that the company has moved away from its founding nonprofit mission. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, claimed that the company was then created with the goal to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity, not for shareholder profit.
According to the lawsuit, OpenAI’s close partnership with Microsoft and its decision to transition towards proprietary, closed-source models has violated that promise. The allegations didn’t end there at all. Elon Musk later expanded the OpenAI lawsuit in mid-2024 to include Microsoft, too. xAI’s boss accused both companies of fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. Musk has also argued that his early financial backing and contributions toward OpenAI were used to build a for-profit AI giant that now competes directly with his own AI company, xAI. That too, by abandoning the nonprofit principles Musk helped to establish in OpenAI’s initial days.
Musk pushes for up to $134 billion in damages as the courtroom trial approaches
Now, it seems Musk is in full mood to go hard on both the companies. Bloomberg now reports that Elon Musk is now seeking between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft. The demand comes at a time when his lawsuit heads toward trial in April, with fresh court filings detailing the scale of his claims.
OpenAI’s transition to for-profit company hasn’t really pleased Musk. He argues the company was founded as a nonprofit focused on safe AI research, but OpenAI diverted from that mission in favor of massive profits. Microsoft’s close relationship with OpenAI, including its large ownership stake, has been cited as part of that shift.
According to Musk’s legal team, the seeked damages are much more than money. An expert witness calculated the figure based on Musk’s early financial backing, technical input, and strategic role during OpenAI’s formative years. Per the claims, OpenAI and Microsoft benefited enormously from those early contributions. In the past few months, we have seen Musk and Altman go one-on-one in high-profile banters on X. In earlier public exchanges, after Musk offered to buy OpenAI, Altman replied to him directly saying, “no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk then called Altman a “Swindler” on X, hinting that the battle is much more about monetary compensation. It rather seems more of a personal battle between two AI tech giants’ CEOs.
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Here’s what OpenAI has been saying about Musk’s claims all this while
Apart from drama on X, OpenAI has officially disputed Musk’s claims in the past. The company described Musk’s lawsuit as harassment and has warned investors to expect aggressive and attention-grabbing claims as the case unfolds.
The company issued a statement saying, “Mr. Musk’s lawsuit continues to be baseless and a part of his ongoing pattern of harassment, and we look forward to demonstrating this at trial.” It added that the latest high damage demand is aimed at “furthering this harassment campaign.” Microsoft has been mum about damages requests as of now.
As far as monetary damage is concerned, it is eye-watering, to say the least. But, we can’t deny that the context matters here. For those unaware, Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, with a fortune that’s somewhere around $700 billion. Considering that figure, the lawsuit looks less like more than getting a cheque. The high-stskes lawsuit could be about control, influence, and the future direction of AI. All that said, the courtroom showdown in California may finally decide the fate if the lawsuit.
