Elon Musk, the CEO of AI company xAI, has announced that up to $135 billion in potential proceeds from his lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft (MSFT) will be donated to charity. The pledge was made on March 16, 2026, with Musk stating that he would receive no personal financial gain from potential lawsuit payments.
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Forget margin or options. Here's how the pros trade TSLAThe commitment addresses criticism that the litigation is motivated by profit. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and provided early funding before departing in 2018.
Musk Announces Charity Pledge for Lawsuit Proceeds
Musk wrote that “the proceeds of any legal victory in the OpenAI case will be donated to charity. I will in no way enrich myself.” The statement was posted directly on his X account following ongoing public discussion of the legal battle.
The lawsuit, initiated in 2024, claims OpenAI violated its founding agreement by converting to a for-profit structure and forming a deep partnership with Microsoft. Musk contributed an estimated $38 miillion to $45 million during OpenAI’s nonprofit phase.
Expert analyses cited in filings estimate potential damages between $65.5 billion and $109 billion from OpenAI, plus $13.3 billion to $25 billion from Microsoft, based on alleged wrongful gains. The trial is set for April 28, 2026, in federal court in Oakland, California.
The Lawsuit Centers on OpenAI’s Founding Mission
OpenAI launched in 2015 as a non-profit dedicated to safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits humanity, with Musk among its key backers. The private company established a capped-profit subsidiary in 2019 to attract capital, resulting in multi-billion-dollar investments from Microsoft.
Musk left the board in 2018, citing conflicts with Tesla’s (TSLA) AI work, and later founded xAI as a competitor, which he recently merged with SpaceX. The legal dispute intensified after OpenAI’s valuation rose sharply, reaching discussions around $830 billion in recent funding talks.
The charity pledge reframes the case as a defense of original principles rather than personal enrichment. It may influence perceptions among AI industry observers and Microsoft shareholders, though the legal arguments and potential remedies remain unchanged.
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