Elon Musk is leading a group of investors in offering to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The bid is for the nonprofit that oversees the artificial intelligence startup, the Journal reported, adding that Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted the offer on Monday.
The WSJ cited a statement from Musk provided by Toberoff, saying, “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”
In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk then replied to the OpenAI chief on X calling him a “swindler,” and in a reply to a different user, called him “Scam Altman.”
Musk, who is a top adviser to President Donald Trump, is in the midst of a heated legal and public relations battle with Altman. They were two of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, establishing the entity as a nonprofit focused on AI research.
OpenAI has since emerged as a giant in generative AI, launching ChatGPT in 2022 and setting off a wave of investment in new tools and infrastructure for next-generation AI products and services. SoftBank is close to finalizing a $40 billion investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, sources told CNBC’s David Faber last week.
Musk now has a competitor in the AI market, a startup called xAI, and is suing OpenAI, accusing it of antitrust violations and to try and keep it from converting into a for-profit corporation.
Meanwhile, OpenAI partnered with SoftBank and Oracle in a project announced by Trump right after his inauguration called Stargate, which calls on the companies to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the U.S.
Musk’s offer is backed by xAI, which the Journal reports could merge with OpenAI if a deal were to occur. Other investors in the bid include Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, 8VC and Ari Emanuel’s investment fund, the paper reported.
Toberoff sent a letter to the attorneys general in California and Delaware on Jan. 7, asking that bidding be opened up for OpenAI.