Elon Musk is demanding ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft to pay up to $134 billion claiming that the AI company defrauded him by diverting from its non-profit roots. According to a report by Bloomberg, Musk has filed a ‘damages request’ in court on Friday, January 16, 2026. The move comes a day after a federal judge rejected a final bid by OpenAI and Microsoft to avoid a jury trial set for late April in Oakland, California.
What Elon Musk claims in the court filing against OpenAI and Microsoft
The court filings quote calculations by a financial economist expert witness, C. Paul Wazzan, stating that the tech billionaire was defrauded of the $38 million in seed money he donated to OpenAI. For those unaware, Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015. He left the company in 2018 due to concerns over its commercialization and strategic direction.Musk, as per the filing, is claiming a chunk of OpenAI’s current $500 billion valuation.
“Just as an early investor in a startup company may realize gains many orders of magnitude greater than the investor’s initial investment, the wrongful gains that OpenAI and Microsoft have earned – and which Mr. Musk is now entitled to disgorge – are much larger than Mr. Musk’s initial contributions,” Elon Musk’s lawyer Steven Molo wrote in the filing.
OpenAI denies Elon Musk’s allegations
Both OpenAI and Microsoft have denied Musk’s allegations. In a statement quoted by Bloomberg, OpenAI said “Mr Musk’s lawsuit continues to be baseless and a part of his ongoing pattern of harassment, and we look forward to demonstrating this at trial. This latest unserious demand is aimed solely at furthering this harassment campaign.”
OpenAI warns investors
Earlier this week, the Sam Altman-led OpenAI sent a letter to investors and banking partners warning them about possible exaggerated statements from Elon Musk. The letter says that the company expects Elon Musk to make “deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims” as his lawsuit against the AI lab heads to trial on April 27. “We have strong defenses and feel confident about our chances of winning the case,” OpenAI said in the letter, which was viewed by CNBC. “Regardless, based on the record so far, we believe this case is worth no more than the $38M that Elon donated – though that is not a guarantee.”
