If having X (aka Twitter) is not enough, and Elon Musk does not fancy TikTok, his group has something more ambitious in mind: a $97.4 billion bid to purchase OpenAI. This is the latest effort from Musk to block OpenAI from transitioning into a for-profit company, something that CEO Sam Altman has in mind.
Altman mocked the bid made by Musk’s group, posting on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want”.
For those unaware, Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a non-profit but left in 2019–before OpenAI became a big company that’s best known for ChatGPT. Musk has filed several cases against OpenAI for allegedly betraying its original mission to develop AI safely and openly.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement provided by his lawyer Marc Toberoff to The Wall Street Journal. “We will make sure that happens.”
This latest development makes OpenAI’s situation more complex as it gears to become a for-profit company: aside from Musk’s team promising to match or exceed higher offers, Altman is in negotiations with Microsoft and other stakeholders.
Aside from the planned OpenAI purchase, Elon Musk has his own AI company with xAI.
