Elon Musk is trying to recover up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming he is entitled to «unfair profits» the companies made from his early involvement in creating OpenAI.
This is stated in court documents made public on Friday, Reuters writes .
Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 and now runs xAI (developer of the chatbot Grok, a competitor to ChatGPT), claims that OpenAI violated its original mission when it conducted a high-profile restructuring and effectively turned into a commercial entity.
According to a federal court filing, OpenAI benefited from between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion thanks to Musk’s early contributions, when the company was still a startup in 2015. Microsoft, Musk estimates, received between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion.
It is these amounts that Musk considers to be the «illegitimate profits» to which he is entitled, ahead of the lawsuit against both companies.
Musk’s lawyer, Stephen Molo, said that without the billionaire’s participation, OpenAI simply would not exist.
«Without Elon Musk, there would be no OpenAI. He provided the bulk of the seed funding, leveraged his own reputation, and shared his expertise in scaling the business. A leading expert assessed the value of this contribution,» Molo noted.
The court documents also state that Musk invested about $38 million, which was 60% of OpenAI’s initial seed funding, helped with hiring staff, contacts, and gave the project legitimacy at the start.
Musk’s contribution calculations were prepared by his expert, financial economist C. Paul Vazzan. However, OpenAI and Microsoft insist that these estimates are «fictional,» «unverifiable,» and could mislead juries because they effectively involve an «implausible» redistribution of billions of dollars from a nonprofit organization to a former donor who is now a competitor.
Companies also generally dispute the methodology for calculating losses, calling it unreliable.
In response, OpenAI called Musk’s demands «frivolous» and part of, as the company notes, his «harassment campaign.»
Microsoft has not publicly commented on the amount of compensation Musk is seeking, but a company lawyer said there is no evidence that Microsoft «facilitated or assisted» OpenAI’s alleged violations.
Both companies also filed a separate motion in court challenging Musk’s damage calculations.
A judge in Oakland, California, this month ordered a jury trial, with the trial expected to begin in April.
In addition to compensation, Musk could seek fines and other penalties, including an injunction, if a jury finds OpenAI or Microsoft guilty. The documents do not specify what such an injunction might take.
