Musk says OpenAI's nonprofit should get any damages from his lawsuit

Elon Musk is pulling an incredible legal plot twist: he's suing OpenAI for more than $150 billion, but says he doesn't want a single penny of it.

On Tuesday, Musk amended his federal lawsuit against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and Microsoft. Instead of seeking personal damages, Musk is now asking the court to redirect any ill-gotten gains straight back to OpenAI's original charitable nonprofit foundation.

Giving away $150 billion to take Altman's seat

Musk's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, told The Wall Street Journal that Musk is not seeking a single dollar for himself. The goal of the amended filing, according to Toberoff, is to strip away OpenAI's claims that the lawsuit is merely a competitor trying to harass the AI giant.

Instead, Musk wants the court to strip Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of their shares and financial benefits, returning everything to the charitable foundation. He is also demanding that Altman be completely removed from the foundation's board.

OpenAI hit back fast on X, calling the lawsuit a harassment campaign driven by ego, jealousy, and a desire to slow down a rival. The company, which is currently valued at $852 billion and gearing up for an IPO, has asked attorneys general in Delaware and California to investigate Musk's actions.

Backed into a corner by the judge

While Musk's pivot sounds like pure altruism, it was actually forced by a brutal legal reality check.

A week earlier, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismantled Musk's original damages strategy. She tossed out Musk's request for punitive damages and agreed with OpenAI that his legal theory didn't hold water.

Musk's economic expert had argued that OpenAI and Microsoft extracted nearly $134 billion in wrongful gains from Musk's initial $38 million donation. But the judge ruled that Musk failed to justify why any of that money should end up in his own bank account. She also rejected his theory that damages compounded every time OpenAI used his donated assets for commercial aims.

Basically, Musk had to pivot to keep the case alive ahead of an Oakland trial set for April. Compounding Musk's problems, early interview records from 2017 show he previously agreed to adding a for-profit arm while discussing the transition.

Why it matters

Musk is executing a classic flank attack, turning a vulnerable legal claim into a PR masterstroke right as OpenAI prepares to go public.

For the AI ecosystem, this isn't just about billionaire drama. If Musk manages to convince a jury that OpenAI illegally converted nonprofit assets into commercial equity, it could trigger massive regulatory investigations and throw OpenAI's restructuring plans into legal limbo.

We think Musk's pivot is remarkably clever, even if it was born out of judicial defeat. By walking away from personal enrichment, he takes the moral high ground and neutralizes OpenAI's favorite counter-punch: that this is just a jealous founder trying to raid the corporate treasury. Still, asking the court to strip Altman of his shares and kick him off the board reveals Musk's true objective: neutralizing his biggest AI rival.