Elon Musk is now asking that any damages from his lawsuit against OpenAI, potentially exceeding $134 billion, be awarded to the company’s non-profit arm rather than himself.
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Musk Seeks to Oust Altman, Asks for $134 Billion to Go to Charity
Elon Musk escalated his legal battle against OpenAI, filing a motion that seeks to remove Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman from their roles. The filing, submitted Tuesday ahead of an April 27 trial date, demands the company unwind its for-profit structure and return to its original non-profit mission, a move that could unravel its multi-billion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.
"Plaintiff will seek an order removing Altman as a director from the OpenAI nonprofit board and removing both Altman and Brockman as officers of the OpenAI for-profit," Musk's lawyers stated in the filing. "Removal of a charity's officers and directors is a common remedy where those individuals fail to protect or carry out the charity's public mission."
Musk, a co-founder of the AI lab in 2015 with an initial $38 million donation, sued OpenAI in 2024, alleging he was deceived into supporting a non-profit that secretly planned to become a for-profit enterprise. OpenAI restructured in October, with a non-profit entity now holding a 26% stake in the for-profit arm responsible for ChatGPT. Musk's lawyers previously argued their client was owed up to $134 billion in "wrongful gains" from OpenAI and its lead investor, Microsoft.
The lawsuit's outcome could fundamentally reshape the generative AI market. A victory for Musk would not only jeopardize OpenAI's operational structure and its crucial funding from Microsoft, but it would also create significant uncertainty for the industry leader. This could benefit competitors, including Musk's own xAI, which was recently valued at $1.25 trillion after being acquired by SpaceX, as well as rivals like Anthropic and Meta.
A Deepening Feud Ahead of Trial
The legal maneuvering has intensified from both sides as the trial approaches. On Monday, OpenAI's strategy chief, Jason Kwon, sent a letter to the attorneys general of California and Delaware, urging an investigation into what it called "improper and anti-competitive behavior" by Musk. The letter alleged Musk was coordinating with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to undermine OpenAI.
Musk left OpenAI's board in 2018 after a failed attempt to merge the AI lab with Tesla. He launched the competing company xAI in 2023, which developed the chatbot Grok. The lawsuit claims that OpenAI's current structure is a betrayal of the founding agreement to develop artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity, not for profit. OpenAI has denied the allegations, stating that Musk was aware of and involved in early discussions about a for-profit structure.
For investors, the lawsuit injects a high degree of risk into Microsoft's AI strategy, which is heavily reliant on its partnership with OpenAI. Any court-mandated change to OpenAI's structure could disrupt the flow of technology and revenue, potentially forcing Microsoft to re-evaluate its estimated $13 billion investment and seek alternatives in a fiercely competitive market.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
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