New Delhi, Jan. 20 -- When Elon Musk asked a US court to award him up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, the headline number grabbed attention. But the lawsuit now headed for trial in Oakland, California, is less about reclaiming wealth and more about who gets to define control, value, and mission in the age of artificial intelligence.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and exited in 2018, alleges that the company abandoned its nonprofit mandate and generated "wrongful gains" by restructuring into a for-profit entity closely aligned with Microsoft. The damages figure-derived by Musk's expert witness, financial economist C. Paul Wazzan-represents what Musk argues is his rightful share of value created from OpenAI's cur...