Elon Musk Offers to Buy OpenAI with a $94.7B Bid: Sam Altman Immediately Turns It Down

Key Takeaways

Musk and a consortium of investors offered $94.7 billion to buy OpenAI, aiming to return it to an open-source model. Sam Altman and OpenAI’s board swiftly rejected the bid and instead offered $9.74 billion to buy Musk’s X.

Musk co-founded OpenAI but left in 2018. Since then, Altman has shifted OpenAI towards a for-profit model, arguing it’s necessary for AI development. Musk has opposed this.

Musk’s bid could have given him significant control over generative AI, but OpenAI views it as an attempt to eliminate competition.

Another day, another Sam Altman and Elon Musk feud. 

In today’s episode, the OpenAI CEO reportedly declared that the Musk-led group’s surprise bid to buy OpenAI would be rejected. He instead offered to buy X, owned by Musk. 

The consortium of investors, along with Elon, launched to buy the artificial intelligence leader for $94.7 billion, the bid was submitted by a lawyer for Tesla and Elon Musk. 

It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was, We will make sure that happens. – Elon Musk

According to the Information, Mr. Altman sent a memo to staff on Monday stating the board of directors have no interest in the bid presented and quickly turned down the offer, and offered a bid price of $9.74 billion to buy Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter). 

Sam didn’t sound very pleased with the offer when he offered his remarks to Axios on the topic and made it very clear that neither OpenAI nor its mission is up for sale. 

He also added that the bid looked like an attempt to clear competition since Musk’s xAI hasn’t been able to beat OpenAI in the market. 

Musk and Altman’s Long-Running Feud

Elon Musk helped fund OpenAI in 2015 and was one of its founding members. He resigned from the board in 2018 but both of them have since been debating over who should take the lead and decide the AI giant’s future.

OpenAI was initially started as a non-profit company with a mission to create AI tools that would benefit humanity. Gradually, Altman started to commercialize the platform and created a subsidiary in 2019 which would allow the AI giant to incentivize outside investment without having to let go of the non-profit board. 

According to certain reports, Altman is restructuring the company, steering it to become a completely for-profit entity. OpenAI argues that this step is essential to draw in the much-required funds for the development of the best AI models. 

Several executives, including CTO, Mira Murti left the company soon after this. Co-founder Ilya Sutskever also quit to start a new safer and sustainable AI venture.

Musk filed a case against OpenAI last year, alleging that it had betrayed its principles and violated the terms of Musk’s original donations to the non-profit. Since then, the feud has continued, with occasional X controversies and press comments made on their opinions about AI’s direction. 

Had OpenAI accepted this bid, it would’ve meant an almost autonomous control of Elon Musk over generative AI, giving him the power to pivot its growth in whatever direction he wished. According to Musk’s lawyer, the sole intention behind the bid was to restore ChatGPT to its original form. 

When asked whether Mr. Musk’s intervention could complicate the for-profit arm of OpenAI’s takeover, Mr. Altman responded, “The board will decide what to do there”

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Alpa is a tech writer and editor with a wealth of experience in alternative finance, fintech, cryptocurrency, app security software, and the medical industry. She’s passionate about breaking down complex topics and sharing informative content that provides value.

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