Elon Musk has significantly raised the stakes in his legal battle with OpenAI and Microsoft. In a new court document, the billionaire's lawyers stated a compensation amount ranging from $79 billion to $134 billion. Musk claims that the companies deceived him by deviating from the startup's initial non-profit goals. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
According to expert calculations, Musk is entitled to a share of OpenAI's current market valuation (which is about $500 billion), as he was a co-founder and invested $38 million in the project at the start.
Just as an early investor in a startup can reap profits many orders of magnitude greater than the investor's initial investment, the illicit profits reaped by OpenAI and Microsoft – and which Mr. Musk is now entitled to recover – are far greater than Mr. Musk's initial contributions.
OpenAI's reaction
Sam Altman's company rejects all accusations, calling Musk's actions an attempt to slow down the development of a competitor and part of a personal vendetta.
Mr. Musk's lawsuit continues to be baseless and part of his ongoing pattern of harassment, and we look forward to demonstrating this in court. This latest frivolous demand is solely aimed at further advancing this campaign of harassment.
A jury trial in this case is scheduled for late April 2026 in Oakland, California. It is expected to be one of the largest high-tech lawsuits.