Elon Musk and a group of investors have bid for $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, an offer that CEO Sam Altman has rejected, calling it an attempt to slow the company’s progress.
The offer comes as OpenAI approaches a $300 billion valuation, backed by funding discussions with SoftBank and existing partnerships with Microsoft.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before departing over strategic disagreements, has since launched his own AI company, xAI. He is also suing OpenAI, alleging it has abandoned its nonprofit mission in favour of profit-driven partnerships.
Altman declined Musk’s bid, stating that the move was designed “to slow OpenAI down.”
The dispute highlights broader tensions over control of artificial intelligence development, with Musk advocating for an open-source approach while OpenAI builds proprietary AI models. The outcome could influence the competitive landscape in AI, where companies, including Google’s DeepMind, Anthropic, and Meta, are vying for dominance.
