Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, seeking damages of up to $134 billion for what he claims are “wrongful gains” they amassed from his early involvement with the AI company. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Friday, alleges that OpenAI benefited between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion from Musk’s contributions as a co-founder, while Microsoft gained between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion. Musk’s attorney, Steven Molo, emphasized Musk’s pivotal role in the inception of OpenAI, highlighting his seed funding and guidance as indispensable to the company’s success.
In response, OpenAI has dismissed Musk’s demands as lacking seriousness, attributing them to a purported “harassment campaign” by Musk, who departed from the company in 2018 to establish a competing entity, xAI. Microsoft, on the other hand, has not issued an immediate comment regarding the lawsuit. Both companies have refuted the damages claim in a separate filing, denouncing the financial analysis as baseless and implausible.
Musk’s legal complaint asserts that OpenAI strayed from its original non-profit mission, prompting the lawsuit. A judge has decided that the case will proceed to a jury trial scheduled to commence in April.