Judge Questions Basis for Elon Musk’s $134 Billion Claim Against OpenAI

Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI but left its board in 2018. He alleges that the organization abandoned its nonprofit mission and enabled investors to profit through its partnership with Microsoft and a corporate restructuring. The lawsuit concerns whether OpenAI can adopt a for-profit structure and could also affect its governance, fundraising and the future of Chief Executive Sam Altman.

At a pretrial hearing, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California questioned Musk’s $134 billion damages claim, saying its calculation appeared to have been pulled almost “out of thin air.” She did not dismiss the claim, however, and allowed it to proceed to a jury. The trial is scheduled to formally begin in April.