Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, but left the artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> startup in 2018 after he was unable to persuade its other leaders to have OpenAI merge with Tesla or create a for-profit entity led by him to attract the investment needed to meet the company’s technological needs.<\/p>\n Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI claims that the company violated its founding mission as a nonprofit to develop AI for the benefit of humanity by creating a for-profit entity in 2019.<\/p>\n Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is heading to trial this week, as he seeks over $150 billion in damages as well as the removal of Sam Altman. (Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n His suit seeks the removal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman<\/a> and President Greg Brockman, as well as more than $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, which Musk has said he would provide to OpenAI’s nonprofit entity. Altman and Brockman were among OpenAI’s co-founders.<\/p>\n OpenAI is countering Musk’s claims by noting that the Tesla CEO pursued a merger with OpenAI and was involved with discussions about creating a for-profit entity for the company before his departure from its board of directors. They also view the suit as a tactic to boost his own AI startup, xAI, as a competitor to OpenAI.<\/p>\n OPENAI’S NONPROFIT PARENT COMPANY SECURES $100B EQUITY STAKE WHILE RETAINING CONTROL OF AI GIANT<\/a><\/p>\n The company’s 2019 creation of a for-profit entity governed by OpenAI’s nonprofit arm allowed the company to raise money from investors to scale up its computing capacity to facilitate AI research, which helped spur the launch of ChatGPT<\/a> in late 2022.<\/p>\n Ticker Security Last Change Change % TSLA<\/a> TESLA INC. 376.30 +2.58 OpenAI restructured<\/a> again last fall, transitioning into a public benefit corporation in which its nonprofit arm as well as its other investors, including Microsoft, hold stakes. The nonprofit arm has a 26% stake with additional warrants if OpenAI’s valuation hits certain targets.<\/p>\n Musk’s legal team arrived at its estimate of damages owed to him by OpenAI by multiplying its valuation and a portion of the nonprofit’s stake that could be attributed to his contributions, claiming that between 50% and 75% of the OpenAI nonprofit’s stake can be attributed to him.<\/p>\n “Never before has a corporation gone from tax-exempt charity to a $157 billion for-profit, market-paralyzing gorgon \u2013 and in just eight years. Never before has it happened, because doing so violates almost every principle of law governing economic activity,” Musk’s suit claims.<\/p>\n ALTMAN CALLS MUSK’S SPACE DATA CENTER PLANS ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR CURRENT AI COMPUTING NEEDS<\/a><\/p>\n OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has restructured the company to attract outside investment. (Nathan Laine\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Court documents show that Musk gave about $38 million of seed money to OpenAI between 2016 and 2020, mostly before he left the board.<\/p>\n Microsoft<\/a> is also a defendant in the lawsuit and denies colluding with OpenAI, arguing that its partnership with OpenAI began after Musk’s departure.<\/p>\n OpenAI has insisted that Musk is motivated by revenge and competitive concerns, with the company writing on X that, “His lawsuit remains nothing more than a harassment campaign that’s driven by ego, jealousy and a desire to slow down a competitor.”<\/p>\n Both Musk and Altman signaled their eagerness for the trial to proceed earlier this year.<\/p>\n JUDGE STRUGGLES TO SEAT JURY IN ELON MUSK INVESTOR TRIAL AMID ‘HATE’ FOR TECH BILLIONAIRE: REPORT<\/a><\/p>\n Musk launched xAI as a competitor to OpenAI following the release of ChatGPT. (Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n “Can’t wait to start the trial. The discovery and testimony will blow your mind,” Musk said in a January post on X.<\/p>\n Altman countered in a February post on the X platform that he is, “Really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months, Christmas in April!”<\/p>\n![\"Elon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/elon_musk.png\")
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