Elon Musk Leads Consortium to Acquire OpenAI for $97.4bn

Elon Musk is heading an investment group proposing a $97.4 billion bid for the nonprofit overseeing OpenAI, opening a new chapter in his ongoing battle with the ChatGPT developer.

Musk attorney Marc Toberoff said he submitted the bid to OpenAI’s board of directors, according to the Journal.

“No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” OpenAI chief Sam Altman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, apparently responding to the offer.

Musk, who acquired X under its previous name for $44 billion in 2022, responded to the post with a single word: “Swindler.”

Musk’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Tesla CEO and close associate of U.S. President Donald Trump has been embroiled in a long-standing dispute with Altman, repeatedly suing the San Francisco-based OpenAI.

Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but since his departure in 2018, the company has grown into the world’s leading AI startup. In 2023, he launched his own generative AI venture, xAI.

“We created a bespoke structure: a for-profit, controlled by the non-profit, with a capped profit share for investors and employees,” OpenAI said in a December blog post that outlined a plan to become a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation.

According to the post, this transition would necessitate the company balancing the interests of shareholders, stakeholders, and the public, marking a shift away from its nonprofit model.

Musk founded xAI in early 2023 to gain a foothold in the technology anticipated to transform daily life and work.

Despite being one of the world’s most highly valued startups, OpenAI incurs significant losses due to the high costs of developing its advanced technology.

In January, Trump announced a significant investment to develop AI infrastructure, led by Japanese tech giant SoftBank, cloud computing firm Oracle, and OpenAI.

The venture, called Stargate, “will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States,” Trump said in remarks at the White House.

OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison were present at the announcement.

However, Musk quickly cast doubt on the project, claiming the promised investment funds were not actually available.

His remarks signaled a rare rift between the world’s richest man and Trump, despite Musk’s influential role in the new U.S. administration after contributing $270 million to the Republican’s election campaign.