Elon Musk Offers Almost $100 Billion to Purchase OpenAI
Elon Musk and a group of investors have offered $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left in 2018, has been critical of the company’s shift to a for-profit model. The bid, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, has been met with resistance from OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman.
In response to the offer, Altman posted on Musk’s social media platform, X, saying, "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." OpenAI’s board will ultimately decide whether to accept or negotiate the offer, but the company’s recent funding rounds have reportedly valued it at up to $300 billion, making Musk’s bid appear low in comparison. The bid is backed by Musk’s rival AI company, xAI, raising speculation that he might merge the two firms if successful.
The lawyer representing the investors led by Musk, Marc Toberoff, stated, "It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens."
Critics have questioned Musk’s true intentions behind the bid. Christie Pitts, a tech investor, told the BBC, "I think it's fair to be pretty suspicious of this considering that he has a competitor himself... which is structured as a for-profit company, so I think there's more than meets the eye here." Some believe the bid is more about Musk’s ongoing dispute with Altman than a serious attempt to acquire OpenAI.
Musk and OpenAI have been embroiled in legal battles for months. Musk has repeatedly criticized OpenAI’s direction, arguing that the company has abandoned its original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity, and sued the company last year, accusing it of prioritizing profit over safety. OpenAI countered by arguing that Musk was simply upset about being left out of the company’s success. Documents from OpenAI’s early days have also surfaced, showing that Musk acknowledged the need for significant funding to advance AI, contradicting some of his claims in the lawsuit.
OpenAI’s rapid growth has put it at the center of the AI industry, attracting major backers like Microsoft and Thrive Capital. The company argues that transitioning to a for-profit structure is necessary to fund the expensive development of advanced AI models. Musk, however, insists that this shift betrays OpenAI’s original purpose and has used legal action to challenge its direction.
Despite Musk’s vocal opposition to OpenAI’s for-profit shift, he is involved in another massive AI project. At the White House, President Donald Trump recently announced "The Stargate Project," a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative backed by Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund. While Musk has downplayed the financial credibility of the project, it demonstrates his continued interest in shaping the AI landscape.
With OpenAI valued far beyond Musk’s current bid, and the company forging ahead with its business model, it remains uncertain whether the bid is a genuine acquisition attempt or just another chapter in the Musk-Altman feud. What is clear, however, is that the battle over OpenAI’s future is far from over.
