In a bold move that could reshape the artificial intelligence landscape, Elon Musk and a coalition of investors have launched a $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman swiftly dismissed the offer with a pointed response on social media, instead playfully counter-offering to purchase Twitter for $9.74 billion - a reference to Musk's $44 billion Twitter acquisition in 2022.
The bid marks the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between Musk, who helped establish OpenAI in 2015, and the company's current leadership. Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, claiming the organization had abandoned its original public benefit mission.
The investor group backing the takeover includes Musk's x.AI Corp., Baron Capital Group, Valor Management, Altreides Management, Vy Fund III, Emanuel Capital Management, and Eight Partners VC, according to their attorney Marc Toberoff.
Musk emphasized his commitment to open-source AI development through his company x.AI, which recently released its Grok AI model. "At x.AI, we live by the values I was promised OpenAI would follow. We've made Grok open source, and we respect the rights of content creators," Musk stated.
The timing of this takeover attempt coincides with OpenAI's transition toward a for-profit model and its deepening partnership with Microsoft, which has invested heavily in the company and integrated OpenAI's GPT-4 technology into its products.
The investor group pledged that the $97.4 billion would be dedicated exclusively to advancing OpenAI's original charitable mission, aiming to return the organization to its roots as an "open-source, safety-focused force for good."
As the world's wealthiest individual, with a net worth exceeding $400 billion, Musk's latest move could potentially alter the trajectory of one of AI's most influential companies.