Elon Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for OpenAI

Musk’s bid could ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman implicit the aboriginal of the startup.

A consortium led by Elon Musk said it has offered $97.4bn to bargain the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, months aft the billionaire sued the artificial quality startup to artifact it from transitioning to a for-profit firm.

Musk’s bid, revealed connected Monday, could ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman implicit the aboriginal of the startup astatine the bosom of a roar successful generative AI technology.

Altman promptly posted connected X: “No convey you but we volition bargain twitter for $9.74 cardinal if you want.”

The 2 are already embroiled successful an ongoing lawsuit. Musk criticised a $500bn OpenAI-led task called Stargate announced with large fanfare astatine the White House conscionable aft United States President Donald Trump returned to office, suggesting the investors progressive lacked the backing for the project.

“It’s clip for OpenAI to instrumentality to the open-source, safety-focused unit for bully it erstwhile was,” Musk said successful the property release. “We volition marque definite that happens.”

OpenAI, Musk, Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff and OpenAI backer Microsoft did not instantly respond to requests for remark from the Reuters quality agency.

The bid is being backed by Musk’s AI institution xAI, which could merge with OpenAI pursuing a deal, according to The Wall Street Journal, which archetypal reported Musk’s connection earlier connected Monday.

Even without immoderate antitrust implications, a woody this size would request Musk and his consortium to rise tremendous funds.

OpenAI was valued astatine $157bn successful its latest backing circular successful October, cementing its presumption arsenic 1 of the astir invaluable backstage companies successful the world. SoftBank Group is successful talks to pb a backing circular of up to $40bn successful OpenAI astatine a valuation of $300bn, including the caller funds, the Reuters quality bureau reported successful January.

Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman successful 2015, but near earlier the institution took off. He founded the competing AI startup xAI successful 2023.

OpenAI is present trying to modulation into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, which it says is required to unafraid the superior needed for processing the champion artificial quality models.

Musk’s suit against OpenAI and Altman says the founders primitively approached him to money a nonprofit focused connected processing AI to payment humanity, but that it was present focused connected making money.