Elon Musk Challenges OpenAI Over AI Market Control

Elon Musk has ramped up his legal battle against OpenAI and Microsoft by filing an amended lawsuit on November 14, accusing the tech giants of monopolistic practices in the generative AI market.

Musk’s company, xAI, alongside Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member, is challenging the two companies’ alleged anticompetitive collaboration.

The revised lawsuit claims that OpenAI and Microsoft have effectively merged, using their combined market power to suppress competition. Musk’s legal team argues that the companies are offering enormous salaries to AI talent—up to $800,000 annually for OpenAI engineers—in order to dominate the industry.

The complaint also accuses OpenAI of discouraging investors from backing rival firms during a $6.6 billion fundraising round. Despite these claims, SoftBank, a key investor, has maintained it still has the freedom to invest in other AI ventures.

READ MORE:

SEC Chair Gensler Set to Step Down as Trump Eyes Crypto-Friendly Leadership

Musk’s legal team further contends that the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI controls nearly 70% of the generative AI market, creating a monopolistic environment. This lawsuit follows months of tension between Musk and OpenAI, including an earlier suit in March that Musk withdrew before reigniting the dispute in August.

Musk has repeatedly criticized OpenAI’s shift from its nonprofit roots to a profit-driven model, accusing the company of prioritizing commercial gains over its original mission to develop AI for the greater good. This legal clash comes as OpenAI prepares to launch a new AI tool, Operator, and has secured $6.6 billion in funding, boosting its valuation to $157 billion.

Kostadin Dimitrov