Elon Musk leads an offer to buy ChatGPTs parent company for nearly $100 billion
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Musk Makes $97.4B Bid for OpenAI Amid Leadership Feud
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Above: The logo of 'OpenAi' is displayed on a mobile screen in front of a computer screen displaying photographs of Elon Musk and Sam Altman, on March 14, 2024. Image copyright: Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Facts
A consortium led by Elon Musk has reportedly submitted a $97.4B bid to acquire OpenAI, significantly below the company's recent valuation of $157B, escalating the Musk-OpenAI CEO Sam Altman power struggle.
Altman immediately rejected the offer via X, countering with an offer to buy the platform which he referred to as 'Twitter' — X's title before it was changed by Musk — for $9.74B. Musk responded to the OpenAI's chief offer, calling him a "swindler."
The investor group includes Musk's xAI, Baron Capital Group, Valor Management, Atreides Management, Vy Fund, and Eight Partners VC. The group's stated goal is reportedly to return OpenAI to its original nonprofit mission.
The Spin
Narrative A
OpenAI must transition to a for-profit structure to secure the massive investments needed to develop advanced AI models and maintain competitiveness in the evolving AI landscape. It has already demonstrated success through ChatGPT's rapid adoption and projected $11.6B in revenue this year. A role for Musk would further broaden its horizons.
Narrative B
Musk's criticism of AI "wokeness" and unsupported claims about AI bias appear to mask his true motives: undermining competitors while promoting his own AI venture, xAI. His inflammatory rhetoric and personal attacks on Altman reveal less about AI ethics and more about his apparent desire to dominate the AI landscape.
