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Elon Musk Sues OpenAI for $150 B Over Profit Shift

4/30/2026

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Summary

Musk Sues OpenAI

Elon Musk sued OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman in Oakland court, alleging the nonprofit became a for-profit venture and demanding $150 billion in damages.
Musk says he gave $38 million to start OpenAI as a charity and that its founders created a for-profit arm that raised $122 billion.
Opening statements began April 28, 2026 before a nine-person advisory jury, while Microsoft invested $10 billion in 2023, a deal Musk called a “bait-and-switch”.

Summary

OpenAI Secures $157B Valuation

OpenAI’s latest funding round valued the company at $157 billion, with analysts projecting an IPO could raise its market cap to $850 billion.
The firm rejected an Elon Musk-led consortium’s $97.4 billion offer for its assets in early 2026.
Microsoft’s $10 billion 2023 investment helped OpenAI raise $122 billion in its most recent financing round.
Anthropic and other rivals are intensifying competition, prompting OpenAI to spend billions on computational infrastructure to maintain its lead.

History

Historical Context

After the 1998 United States v. Microsoft antitrust trial—led by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson and resulting in a settlement that forced Microsoft to license Windows and later incurred a €497 million (?$666 million) EU fine—regulators gained a template for curbing platform dominance. That precedent underpins Elon Musk’s 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman and Microsoft, alleging AI market abuse.

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Musk Sues OpenAI

Elon Musk sued OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman in Oakland court, alleging the nonprofit became a for-profit venture and demanding $150 billion in damages.
Musk says he gave $38 million to start OpenAI as a charity and that its founders created a for-profit arm that raised $122 billion.
Opening statements began April 28, 2026 before a nine-person advisory jury, while Microsoft invested $10 billion in 2023, a deal Musk called a “bait-and-switch”.

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