Elon Musk’s Team Offers $97.4 Billion to Acquire OpenAI

On Monday, a group of investors spearheaded by Elon Musk made a $97.6 billion offer to acquire OpenAI. Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed this in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.

This unsolicited offer marks the latest development in Musk’s ongoing conflict with co-founder Sam Altman, who is pursuing the privatization of the company behind ChatGPT. Musk is currently embroiled in legal disputes with OpenAI, having filed an injunction for 2024 aimed at stopping its transfer from nonprofit status. Musk’s team presents this action as a means to preserve the organization’s original commitment to open source values.

“OpenAI must revert to being the safety-focused, open source organization it once was,” Musk expressed to The Journal via Toberoff. “We will ensure this happens.” Musk’s own AI venture, xAI, plays a role in the proposal, fueling speculation that a successful acquisition could lead to a merger of the two entities.

In a clever comeback, Altman took to X to share a funny message, stating, “[N]o thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you’re interested.” This was a playful nod to Musk’s notable purchase of Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.