Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for a huge amount of money—between $79 billion and $134 billion. He says they tricked him. Back in 2015, Musk gave OpenAI $38 million to start the company as a nonprofit. Now, he claims OpenAI broke its promise by turning into a for-profit business with help from Microsoft.
On Friday, Musk’s lawyer filed details in court. They used an expert named C. Paul Wazzan to calculate the money. Wazzan says Musk helped OpenAI a lot—not just with cash, but also with ideas and advice. OpenAI is now worth $500 billion, so Musk wants a big share of that. The expert figures OpenAI made $65.5 billion to $109 billion wrongfully, and Microsoft made $13 billion to $25 billion. Musk also wants extra punishment money and maybe a court order to stop them.
This comes right after a judge said no to OpenAI and Microsoft’s last try to skip a jury trial. The trial starts in late April in Oakland, California.
OpenAI and Microsoft say this is nonsense. On Saturday, they called Musk’s numbers “made-up” and crazy—up to 2,900 times what he put in. They say Musk is just harassing them because he’s a rival.
$TSLA CEO Elon Musk is seeking $134B in damages from $MSFT and OpenAI alleging OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission and improperly enriched itself through the Microsoft partnership.
His filing argues the gains OpenAI generated are “wrongful” and should be disgorged to Musk. pic.twitter.com/D32KsHWnLF
— VanquishTrader (@VanquishTrader) January 17, 2026
Musk quit OpenAI’s board in 2018, started his own AI company, xAI, in 2023, and sued last year over CEO Sam Altman’s plans.
OpenAI recently changed its setup. Microsoft now owns 27% of the for-profit part, but the nonprofit still controls it. OpenAI says Musk uses lawsuits to slow down competitors. They look forward to proving their side in court.
