Elon Musk calls OpenAI CEO a scammer after rejected $97 billion offer
Musk and investors offer $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI
A group of investors led by Elon Musk has made an unsolicited offer to buy the nonprofit controlling OpenAI for $97.4 billion.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of xAI, expressed that the goal of the bid is to return OpenAI to its roots as "an open-source, safety-focused force for good", reports Bloomberg.
In response to Musk’s offer, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman rejected the proposal publicly on Musk’s social media platform, X, while humorously proposing, “No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk had acquired Twitter for $44 billion, but its value reportedly declined afterward, based on outside estimates.
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Musk’s comments were soon followed by a provocative post on X, sharing a video of Altman’s 2023 testimony before Congress, in which Altman stated that he held no equity in OpenAI. Musk captioned the video “Scam Altman,” implying distrust in Altman’s leadership.
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Investor Backing and Strategic Implications
Musk’s bid is supported by a diverse group of investors, including his own AI startup xAI, and other financial backers such as Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, and Ari Emanuel through his investment fund.
These entities could potentially merge with OpenAI should the deal go through, further complicating the transition from nonprofit to a multibillion-dollar for-profit AI giant that OpenAI has been pursuing.
Legal expert Rob Rosenberg suggested that Musk’s intentions might go beyond simply purchasing the company. He may be using the offer to challenge OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit model, a move that Musk has vocally opposed.
Musk's Strategy
According to Marc Toberoff, a lawyer representing the investors, the bid serves as a way to pressure OpenAI to assess the value of its assets transparently during its transition to for-profit status. Toberoff noted that insider negotiations could result in a “sweetheart deal,” which would not benefit the public, OpenAI’s original beneficiary.
It remains unclear how serious Musk’s bid is, but regardless of its outcome, the offer could have significant ramifications for OpenAI. As it navigates its transformation, the public dispute with Musk could further complicate its efforts to establish itself as a dominant for-profit AI company.
OpenAI’s response, rejecting the offer but teasing a potential deal to buy Twitter, shows that tensions between the tech mogul and the AI giant are far from over. As the saga unfolds, the future of OpenAI’s nonprofit status and its transformation into a for-profit enterprise may depend on how these conflicts resolve.
As we wrote, Elon Musk is demanding the impeachment of New York federal judge Paul Engelmayer after the judge issued a February 8 ruling restricting Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing critical financial records and payment systems within the U.S. Treasury Department.
