Elon Musk Offers to Buy Open AI for Nearly $100 Billion
A consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk has made a $97.4 billion bid for artificial intelligence startup Open AI.

According to CNBC, billionaire Elon Musk is leading a consortium of investors who are looking to buy control of Open AI, the company behind the ChatGPT model, for up to $97.4 billion.

In a statement to CNBC, Elon Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff said he submitted the offer earlier this week.

“It is time for OpenAI to return to its core mission of focusing on safety and open source,” Toberoff wrote.

The group of investors includes Elon Musk, the boss of artificial intelligence startup xAI, and Musk’s long-time investment partners Baron Capital Group, Valor, Atreides, Vy Capital, 8VC, and the investment firm Endeavord, led by Ari Emanuel.

A statement from Toberoff’s attorney said the group’s proposal was to “purchase all assets of OpenAI, Inc.” with the proceeds “used exclusively to advance OpenAI’s original mission.”

In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman flatly rejected the offer, responding: “No thanks, but we’ll buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Musk responded shortly after, “Scammer.” This is not the first time Musk has used this term to refer to the CEO of Open AI. Earlier, when responding to another user post, Elon Musk also bluntly said: “Altman is a scammer”.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this offer on Monday, earlier this week.

According to CNBC, billionaire Elon Musk, a top advisor to US President Donald Trump, is in the middle of a tense legal and media battle with Sam Altman. Both Musk and Altman were two of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015. At that time, OpenAI operated as a non-profit organization, focusing on artificial intelligence research.

In recent years, OpenAI has emerged as a giant in the field of generative AI. The launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT tool in 2022 has created a big buzz, and at the same time opened a wave of strong investment in next-generation AI products and services.

CNBC sources said that Japanese bank SoftBank is about to complete a $40 billion investment in OpenAI, valuing the startup at $260 billion.

Tech giant Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest investor to date.

As a co-founder, Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws and trying to prevent Open AI from transforming into a for-profit company, far from its original purpose.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has partnered with SoftBank and Oracle on a “huge” project announced by President Donald Trump right after his inauguration. The project, called Stargate, calls for big companies to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the United States.

The Journal reported that xAI could merge with OpenAI if an acquisition offer by Mr. Musk goes through.

Toberoff sent a letter to the attorneys general in California and Delaware on January 7, asking for an open tender for OpenAI