2025-02-11
Elon Musk, along with a consortium of
investors, has made an unsolicited offer of $97.4 billion to acquire the
nonprofit organization that controls OpenAI.
Musk's stated intention is to revert
OpenAI to its original mission as an open-source, safety-focused entity. The
bid is supported by Musk's AI company, xAI, and several venture capital firms.
OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, promptly
declined the offer, responding on X with a quip: "No thank you but we will
buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." This remark references Musk's
2022 acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion.
Sam Altman on X: "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want"
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in
2015 but departed in 2018 due to strategic disagreements.
Since then, tensions have escalated
between the two, particularly over OpenAI's shift from a nonprofit to a
for-profit model.
Musk has previously sued OpenAI,
alleging that it has strayed from its original charitable mission.
Altman is seeking to turn OpenAI into a non-profit business. This development adds complexity to
OpenAI's ongoing transition to a for-profit structure, a move it argues is
necessary to secure substantial capital for advanced AI research.
