A group led by Elon Musk is making a $97.4 billion offer to buy the nonprofit arm of OpenAI.
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Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff said he submitted a bid for all of the nonprofit’s assets to OpenAI’s board on February 10, WSJ reported. The idea is considered a “dramatic escalation in Silicon Valley’s most intense AI competition.”
Musk’s offer to OpenAI brings together a powerful coalition of investors, including his xAI company and big names in venture capital like Valor Equity Partners, Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC firm.
Elon Musk. Photo: The Verge
Musk ’s move comes at a pivotal time for OpenAI, with CEO Sam Altman juggling a number of major financial plans, including converting the company to a for-profit, raising $40 billion at a $340 billion valuation, and launching the $500 billion Stargate infrastructure project .
Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman and others in 2015 before leaving in 2019. The new offer is seen as his bold move to challenge “OpenAI’s betrayal” of its original mission of developing AI in a safe, public, and non-profit manner.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to open source, with a focus on safety as it has always been,” Musk said in a statement provided to the WSJ by his lawyer Marc Toberoff . “We will make sure that happens.”
The nearly $100 billion bid would also put OpenAI’s for-profit transition in serious jeopardy, as Musk’s team has promised to match or outbid any other offer. It would also complicate the case for Sam Altman, who is negotiating with Microsoft and other interested parties for equity in the planned for-profit structure.
Shortly after the news broke, Altman posted on X: “No thanks, but we’ll buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk also responded to Altman’s message: “Scammer.”
OpenAI provided a link to Altman’s X article when asked for a response.
In a Slack message to employees, Altman stated: “Our structure ensures that no single person can control OpenAI. These are tactics intended to try to undermine us as we make great progress.”
