A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk has made a bold $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed that a bid for “all assets” was submitted to OpenAI’s board on Monday. The offer marks the latest development in the ongoing rivalry between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the company’s future.
Altman responded to the bid with a sarcastic post on Musk’s social media platform, X, saying: “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before leaving in 2018, has been vocal about his concerns regarding the company’s shift from a non-profit to a for-profit model. He argues that OpenAI has strayed from its original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity.
OpenAI, however, maintains that its for-profit structure is necessary to attract investment and fuel AI advancements. The company was last valued at $157 billion in October 2024, with new funding talks reportedly pushing that valuation to $300 billion.
Musk’s takeover bid is backed by his AI firm xAI, along with private equity firms Baron Capital Group and Valor Management.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement.
With the bid significantly lower than OpenAI’s recent valuations, it remains to be seen how the board will respond to Musk’s latest move.
