Elon Musk is demanding over $100 billion from OpenAI.

Elon Musk is pursuing his lawsuit against OpenAI to the very end. Photo: Bloomberg .

According to Bloomberg , billionaire Elon Musk is demanding between $79 billion and $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the company behind ChatGPT "deceived" him by abandoning its original non-profit purpose.

According to court documents released on January 16 by Tesla CEO's legal team, the settlement was made just one day after a federal judge rejected OpenAI and Microsoft's latest attempt to avoid a jury trial. The trial is scheduled to take place in late April in Oakland, USA.

In the lawsuit, financial economist Paul Wazzan calculated damages based on the argument that Elon Musk is entitled to a share of OpenAI's current value, which the lawsuit describes as $500 billion . Accordingly, the Tesla CEO claims he was "defrauded" of $38 million in initial capital he contributed to OpenAI when he co-founded the company in 2015.

Specifically, expert Wazzan calculated the damages by combining both Musk's financial and non-financial contributions, including technical advice and business strategy. His estimate suggests that OpenAI's total illicit gains ranged from $65.50 billion to $109.43 billion , while Microsoft benefited from $13.3 billion to $25.06 billion .

Steven Molo, representing Elon Musk, argued that the compensation OpenAI and Microsoft must repay should not be limited to the initial investment. He compared the situation to an early investor in a startup potentially receiving profits many times their initial capital. Accordingly, the "unjustified profits" that OpenAI and Microsoft have gained from changes in their operational direction are now significantly greater than their initial investment.

Elon Musk left the OpenAI board of directors in 2018, then founded his own artificial intelligence company in 2023. By 2024, he had launched a legal battle with CEO Sam Altman, revolving around OpenAI's plan to operate as a for-profit company.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization. Photo: Bloomberg .

In response, the company behind ChatGPT asserted that Musk's lawsuit was "baseless" and that it was part of a "continuous series of harassment." The company hopes to prove this in court, and also stated that the latest compensation claim is merely an attempt to prolong the pressure campaign.

In October 2025, OpenAI announced a restructuring plan. At that time, the company stated that it had transferred 27% of its shares to Microsoft in a transition aimed at maintaining the nonprofit's control over its for-profit business operations.