Musk Seeks Up To US$109.4 Billion From OpenAI For 'Wrongful Gains'

SAN JOSE (California), Jan 17 (Bernama-dpa) -- Tech billionaire Elon Musk is seeking up to US$109.4 billion from ChatGPT developer OpenAI in court, claiming he is owed "wrongful gains" stemming from his early support of the artificial intelligence company as a co-founder, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

In documents filed on Friday with a California court, Musk’s lawyers cited an expert valuation in the legal dispute, which has been ongoing since 2024.

Musk claims he was unlawfully deprived of the value of his investment, but OpenAI rejects the allegations.

OpenAI responded in a statement posted online on Friday, accusing Musk of "grossly misrepresenting" the written record.

According to the expert consulted by Musk's legal team, the South Africa-born billionaire contributed US$38 million to OpenAI's early financing, as well as key industry contacts and technical expertise.

Based on those contributions, the expert stated Musk is entitled to a share of OpenAI's current value, estimated at between US$65.5 billion and US$109.43 billion.

Court documents show Musk is seeking between US$13.3 billion and US$25.06 billion from OpenAI's largest partner and investor, Microsoft.

In his lawsuit, Musk alleges that OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015, has abandoned its original mission as a non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring that artificial intelligence research benefits humanity.

He argues that the company now primarily serves the interests of Microsoft.

OpenAI said Musk's latest filing represents his fourth attempt to revive the same claims and forms part of a broader pattern of harassment aimed at delaying OpenAI's work while benefiting his own AI company, xAI, which he founded in 2023 and whose chatbot, Grok, competes with ChatGPT.

-- BERNAMA-dpa