According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk and a group of investors are offering $97.4 billion to take control of OpenAI.
Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed that the offer was submitted to OpenAI’s board on Monday.
What’s the motive?
Musk believes OpenAI has strayed from its original mission—to be an open-source, safety-focused AI company. His statement?
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”
But OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had a response.
In a post on X, he wrote:
“No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Meanwhile, OpenAI is in a power struggle:
• SoftBank is reportedly investing $40B at a $260B valuation.
• Musk is suing OpenAI over its transition from nonprofit to for-profit.
• xAI (Musk’s own AI company) is part of the bid and could merge with OpenAI.
If Musk takes control, the AI industry could see its biggest shake-up yet.