A group of investors, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has made a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, with the goal of restoring its original non-profit mission.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Monday, the offer aims to purchase all of OpenAI’s assets and steer the organization back to its founding principles.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015 as a non-profit but departed in 2019. Since then, tensions between the two have escalated into a legal dispute over the company’s shift to a for-profit model under Altman’s leadership.
OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman rejected the takeover proposal in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranded it as X, responded by calling Altman a “swindler.”
Later, Musk shared a video on his page explaining his opposition to OpenAI’s transformation, accusing Altman of profiting from an organization originally established as a non-profit.
“He claimed not to be getting rich, but he has made billions. He has claimed many false things,” Musk said in the video.
“Apparently, he’s receiving $10 billion in stock. I don’t trust him, and I don’t think we want the most powerful AI in the world controlled by someone who isn’t trustworthy,” Musk said.
He has been a vocal critic of OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model, arguing that its current direction contradicts the organization’s original vision of an open and ethical approach to artificial intelligence.
