Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Could Cost OpenAI More Than $1 Billion

When OpenAI announced that it had completed its corporate restructuring last month, it became less likely that Elon Musk’s federal lawsuit against the company would foil OpenAI’s plans. Musk hasn’t given up, but even if he wins the case, he is unlikely to inflict any meaningful damage on OpenAI.

There’s a decent chance that the case will go to trial in March. If Musk wins some of his claims, a victory could cost OpenAI more than $1 billion, according to an analysis by three law professors of the remedies he is seeking. That’s a drop in the bucket for OpenAI, which plans to spend $40 billion on computing next year alone and was recently valued at $500 billion. And it’s small change for Musk, whose stake in Tesla alone is worth $300 billion.