Musk changes OpenAI lawsuit to send any damages to OpenAI nonprofit

In short: Elon Musk changed his OpenAI lawsuit to say he wants any money recovered to go to OpenAI’s nonprofit charity, not to him.

What happened

Elon Musk amended his lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. His lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said Musk is “not seeking a single dollar for himself.” Instead, Musk says any money the court orders OpenAI to pay should go to OpenAI’s nonprofit arm.

This matters because Musk previously had claims tied to very large potential payouts. An expert working for Musk suggested OpenAI and Microsoft gained huge value connected to Musk’s early $38 million donation, with figures that could reach $134 billion. A judge, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, rejected parts of Musk’s approach, including a request for punitive damages (extra money meant to punish wrongdoing) and a legal theory that would have let his damages keep adding up over time.

After the judge’s order, Musk’s updated filing argues that the case should focus on protecting a public charity. Musk alleges OpenAI leaders made promises to operate as a nonprofit, then shifted toward private, for-profit interests. Among other remedies, Musk is asking the court to return any “ill-gotten gains” to the nonprofit, remove Altman and Greg Brockman from leadership roles, and undo OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit structure.

OpenAI responded on X that the lawsuit is baseless and claims Musk is trying to change the narrative as trial approaches.

Why it matters

This case could affect how nonprofits that later build for-profit businesses are handled in court. For regular people, the outcome may influence who controls major AI products and whether money tied to a charity must be used like a locked donation box (meant for the public purpose, not private gain).

Source: Arstechnica