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Elon Musk, along with a group of investors, have made a substantial offer of $97.4 billion to acquire the controlling non-profit entity of OpenAI. This bid was reported by the Wall Street Journal, although neither Musk nor OpenAI has publicly commented on it yet. The situation is notable due to Musk’s history of conflicts with OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman.
Musk was one of the founders of OpenAI in 2015 but has since expressed criticism over its transition from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, especially following significant investments from companies like Microsoft. He has accused OpenAI of deviating from its original mission of benefiting humanity, criticizing its reduced transparency and focus on safety. This ongoing tension with Altman appears to have escalated Musk’s actions, leading to his attempt to gain a controlling stake in the company.
Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed the bid, which was submitted to OpenAI’s board on February 10. Musk stated that he believes OpenAI has strayed from its core values and aims to restore its commitment to openness and safety.
By Ropafadzo Mashawi
The bid is supported by Musk’s AI company, xAI, which he founded in 2023. If successful, this deal could potentially lead to a merger between xAI and OpenAI. However, Sam Altman has publicly rejected the offer, responding on X with a cheeky comment: “no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” thus confirming the attempt to acquire OpenAI’s controlling stake.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want</p>— Sam Altman (@sama) <a href=”https://twitter.com/sama/status/1889059531625464090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
This development comes as reports indicate that SoftBank plans to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion in OpenAI, which is currently valued at over $300 billion. In its last funding round in October 2024, OpenAI reached a valuation of approximately $157 billion, raising nearly $6.6 billion. To date, the company has secured a total of $17.9 billion in funding across ten rounds.
OpenAI is also a key player in the recently launched Stargate Project in the U.S., aimed at developing new data centers to support AI advancements and create over 100,000 jobs nationwide. This initiative was announced shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration and involves significant investments from SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, totaling around $500 billion over the next four years to enhance AI infrastructure in the U.S.
Additionally, tensions between Musk and OpenAI have a legal backdrop; last year, Musk sued OpenAI and Altman, claiming that the organization was originally established as a non-profit rather than for financial profit. He contends that OpenAI has shifted its focus solely toward profit-making. In December 2024, a non-profit organization called Encode joined Musk’s efforts to prevent OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit model
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