Elon Musk and a group of investors have made an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to acquire control of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company Musk co-founded but later distanced himself from. Musk’s goal is to return OpenAI to its original mission of being an open-source, safety-focused organization. In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman humorously declined the offer, suggesting instead that OpenAI could buy Twitter for $9.74 billion.
The investor group backing Musk’s bid includes xAI, Musk’s AI startup, and several firms such as Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, 8VC, and Ari Emanuel’s investment fund. Musk and Altman have had a long-standing dispute over the direction OpenAI has taken, with Musk accusing the company of prioritizing profit over its original nonprofit mission.
Since its founding in 2015, OpenAI has transitioned into a for-profit company, with significant investments from Microsoft. This has raised concerns about monopolistic practices, leading Musk to file a lawsuit accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of trying to eliminate competition, particularly his xAI venture.
OpenAI’s collaboration with Microsoft, which includes a $13 billion investment, has also attracted attention from the US Federal Trade Commission. Additionally, SoftBank Group Corp. is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, potentially valuing the company at $300 billion. Microsoft recently restructured its deal with OpenAI, allowing the AI firm to use cloud services from competitors while simultaneously partnering with SoftBank and Oracle on a $500 billion joint venture called Stargate, focused on building US-based cloud computing data centers
