tech
January 17, 2026
Musk seeks up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft in 'wrongful gains'
Musk seeks up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft, saying he deserves "wrongful gains" they received from his early support, according to a court filing.
TL;DR
- Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for up to $134 billion.
- Musk claims the companies owe him for his early contributions and support to OpenAI.
- He alleges OpenAI gained between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion and Microsoft gained between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion from his involvement.
- Musk's lawyer stated he provided bulk seed funding, reputation, and business scaling knowledge.
- OpenAI and Microsoft have called the lawsuit "baseless" and "harassment."
- Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and now runs a competitor, xAI.
- He alleges OpenAI violated its founding mission by becoming a for-profit entity.
- A judge ruled that a jury will hear the trial, expected to start in April.
- Musk's filing states he contributed approximately $38 million, 60% of OpenAI's early seed funding.
- Musk's expert witness, C. Paul Wazzan, calculated the alleged "wrongful gains."
- OpenAI and Microsoft are asking the judge to limit Musk's expert's presentation, calling his analysis "made up" and "unprecedented."
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