Richest man wants even more money Musk demands up to 109.4 billion dollars from OpenAI
Elon Musk once co-founded the ChatGPT developer OpenAI - and then left the company in a dispute. Now he is demanding tens of billions of dollars in compensation.
17.01.2026, 14:34
19.01.2026, 08:11
dpa
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- Elon Musk is suing the ChatGPT developer OpenAI for up to 109.4 billion US dollars (around 88 billion Swiss francs).
- The tech billionaire co-founded OpenAI and is now claiming that he was cheated out of his investment.
- An expert commissioned by Musk argues that Musk is entitled to a share of the current value of OpenAI for his investment of 38 million dollars and the contacts and skills he has contributed.
- Musk is also demanding between 13.3 billion and 25.06 billion dollars from OpenAI's most important partner and investor Microsoft.
- After a judge refused to dismiss the case, it is now likely to go to trial.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is demanding up to 109.4 billion dollars in court from ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Musk's lawyers named the amount calculated by an expert in the legal dispute, which has been ongoing since 2024. Musk once co-founded OpenAI and claims in his lawsuit that he was unlawfully deprived of his investment. OpenAI rejects the allegations.
In his calculations, the expert consulted by the Musk side pointed out, among other things, that Musk had contributed 38 million dollars to the financing of OpenAI in the early days, as well as his contacts and skills. In return, he is entitled to a share of OpenAI's current value.
The expert calculated an amount of between 65.5 billion and 109.43 billion dollars for OpenAI. According to the court document, Musk wants between 13.3 billion and 25.06 billion dollars from OpenAI's most important partner and investor Microsoft.
OpenAI described Musk's demand as "frivolous" in a statement to the Bloomberg financial service.
Dispute over price and control
In the lawsuit, Musk denounces the fact that OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015, has deviated from the agreed path of being a not-for-profit company whose research into artificial intelligence should benefit humanity. Now, it is primarily major investor Microsoft that benefits from this. This is a "blatant violation" of the original founding agreement.
OpenAI replied that Musk had sought "full control" of OpenAI and the chief executive position. He had also campaigned in 2018 to merge OpenAI with Tesla, the electric car manufacturer he manages. Musk had left OpenAI in a dispute that year.
Now a competitor with xAI
The tech billionaire then founded his own AI company called xAI in 2023, whose chatbot Grok competes with ChatGPT. OpenAI countered that it wanted to slow down a competitor with the legal dispute. However, a judge rejected the request by OpenAI and Microsoft to dismiss Musk's lawsuit. The case is now heading towards a trial in April.
