Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images
OpenAI sent a letter Thursday to investors and banking partners warning that it expects Elon Musk to make “deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims” as his lawsuit against the AI lab heads to trial in April.
The trial will mark a public escalation of Musk’s years-long feud with OpenAI, and the company’s letter serves as an attempt to preempt and alleviate investors’ concerns. OpenAI has raised billions of dollars from venture capitalists, and its valuation has swelled to $500 billion.
Musk co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit research company in 2015 alongside several other researchers and executives, including the startup’s CEO Sam Altman.
He filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2024 alleging he was “assiduously manipulated” and “deceived” after the AI company explored converting to a for-profit entity and established an “opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates,” including its multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.
Musk departed OpenAI’s board in 2018, but he has argued that he is owed “the value of all intellectual property developed” from his contributions, potentially amounting to billions of dollars, according to a complaint.
“We have strong defenses and feel confident about our chances of winning the case,” OpenAI said in the letter, which was viewed by CNBC. “Regardless, based on the record so far, we believe this case is worth no more than the $38 million that Elon donated – though that is not a guarantee.”
OpenAI declined to comment on the letter.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the case will proceed to trial. The lawsuit was filed in August 2024 in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.
OpenAI said it expects Musk will make comments about the AI company that “are not grounded in reality” and are “typical of the harassment tactics he’s previously deployed,” according to the letter.
“Elon’s lawsuit remains baseless and without merit, and our team is focused on ensuring the jury sees these claims for what they are,” OpenAI said.
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