Elon Musk leads a surprise $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI—Altman rejects and offers to buy x instead.
Elon Musk has launched an audacious $97.4 billion bid to take over OpenAI, escalating his long-running feud with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman. The surprise move, backed by Musk’s AI venture xAI and several heavyweight investors, aims to acquire “all assets” of OpenAI and restore its original non-profit mission.
“If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI, Inc. Board of Directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it,” said Marc Toberoff, Musk’s attorney, reinforcing Musk’s stance that OpenAI has strayed from its original open-source, ethical AI roots.
However, Altman wasn’t having it. He swiftly dismissed the bid on X (formerly Twitter), sarcastically responding: “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and rebranded it as X, shot back with a single-word response: “Swindler.”
The rivalry between Musk and Altman has been brewing for years. Musk, an original co-founder of OpenAI, walked away in 2019, citing concerns over its direction. Since then, he has repeatedly clashed with Altman, even suing OpenAI over its restructuring plans—a lawsuit he filed, dropped, and re-filed.
The billionaire’s hostile bid is backed by influential figures, including Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, and Ari Emanuel, CEO of entertainment giant Endeavor. Musk insists the takeover is necessary to return OpenAI to its founding principles, stating, “At xAI, we live by the values I was promised OpenAI would follow. It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”
OpenAI, however, remains firm. The company argues that its transition to a for-profit structure is critical for securing funding and staying competitive in the rapidly evolving AI industry. The restructuring, scheduled to be completed by 2026, aims to ensure the company’s survival in an arena dominated by corporate giants.
With Musk vowing to match or exceed any rival bids, the battle for control of OpenAI is far from over. The question now is—will Altman hold his ground, or is this the beginning of a seismic shift in the AI landscape?
