Elon Musk launches $97bn bid to buy ChatGPT-maker OpenAI

A radical led by Elon Musk has made a $97.4bn (£78.7bn) bid to bargain OpenAI conscionable months aft the X proprietor sued the artificial quality start-up.

Mr Musk co-founded OpenAI with its existent main enforcement Sam Altman successful 2015, but near earlier the institution took disconnected aft it released ChatGPT successful precocious 2022.

Initially launched arsenic a non-profit, OpenAI is presently transitioning to a for-profit exemplary - which it says it needs to bash truthful it tin spend to make the champion AI models.

Mr Musk disagrees with the determination and said successful a property merchandise astir the bid: "It's clip for OpenAI to instrumentality to the open-source, safety-focused unit for bully it erstwhile was.

"We volition marque definite that happens."

The connection is being backed by Mr Musk's rival artificial quality institution xAI, which could merge with OpenAI pursuing a deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which archetypal reported the bid.

OpenAI was valued astatine $157bn (£127bn) successful its latest backing circular successful October past year. A woody of this size would necessitate the investing radical to rise tremendous funds.

Mr Musk's connection appears to person escalated longstanding tensions with his erstwhile workfellow Mr Altman, who posted connected X: "no convey you but we volition bargain twitter for $9.74 cardinal if you want."

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Mr Musk bought Twitter, present called X, for $44bn (£38bn) successful 2022.

The brace publically fell retired erstwhile Mr Musk resigned from the OpenAI committee successful 2018.

They are already embroiled successful a suit arsenic Mr Musk sued some OpenAI and Mr Altman past year, accusing them of breaching a declaration by pivoting towards profit, arguing OpenAI was going backmost connected its pledge to make AI cautiously and marque it freely available.

Mr Musk and OpenAI lawyers faced disconnected successful a California national tribunal past week arsenic a justice weighed up whether to backmost the X owner's petition for a tribunal bid that would artifact the institution from becoming a for-profit entity.

US territory justice Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has not yet ruled connected the petition but said she would not halt the lawsuit from moving to a assemblage trial.