A group led by Elon Musk has made a $97.4 billion offer to take control of OpenAI, just months after he sued the artificial intelligence company.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left in 2018. He has been critical of its move toward a for-profit model, arguing that the company has strayed from its original mission of open-source AI development.
In a statement, he said: “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”
The bid is backed by xAI, Musk’s own AI company, and could lead to a merger if successful. However, the offer only targets the non-profit arm that controls OpenAI, not the entire operation.
Musk’s bid escalates tensions with CEO Sam Altman, who rejected the offer with a sarcastic post on X: “No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but left the company in 2019 and started his own AI company called xAI. Over the past several years, he’s tussled with Altman over the direction of the company. He sued OpenAI over the company’s re-structuring plans last year, dropped the suit, then re-filed it.
The bid is backed by xAI and several investment firms, including one run by Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded the stealth government contractor Palantir. Ari Emanuel, who’s the CEO of the entertainment company Endeavor, has also joined the group through his investment fund.
Toberoff told the Wall Street Journal that Musk’s consortium of investors is ready to match or go higher than any other bids on OpenAI that may arise.
OpenAI has maintained that its restructuring is essential to the longevity of the company and being able to access capital. It has said that if it keeps its non-profit structure as is, it won’t be able to keep up in the highly competitive world of AI innovation. OpenAI said it plans for the restructuring to be done by 2026.
