T he ongoing rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman intensified on Friday as OpenAI's board rejected a $97.4 billion acquisition bid from an investment consortium led by Musk.
"OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk's latest attempt to disrupt his competition," stated Bret Taylor, OpenAI's board chair, in an official release.
San Francisco-based OpenAI, originally established as a nonprofit AI research organization, has been transitioning into a for-profit entity. It was co-founded by Altman, who currently serves as the CEO.
Taylor emphasized that any restructuring of OpenAI would reinforce its nonprofit mission to ensure artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.
Musk, an early OpenAI backer, previously sued the organization, alleging it had strayed from its original mission of serving humanity’s best interests. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has since launched his own AI startup, xAI, as a direct competitor to OpenAI.
The investment consortium, led by Musk, formally announced its bid on Monday.
"If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI Inc. Board of Directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time," said Marc Toberoff, legal counsel for the investors, in a statement.
Musk, reinforcing his stance, stated, "It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens."
Altman quickly dismissed the proposal, responding on X (formerly Twitter), "No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."
In a court filing on Wednesday, Toberoff indicated that Musk would withdraw his bid if OpenAI's board formally commits to upholding its nonprofit mission and halts its for-profit transformation.
The Musk-led investment group includes xAI Corp., Baron Capital Group Inc., Valor Management LLC, Atreides Management LP, Vy Fund III L.P., Eight Partners VC LLC, and Emanuel Capital Management LLC, an investment fund led by entertainment mogul Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor.
As the power struggle over OpenAI’s future unfolds, industry observers remain divided on whether Musk’s intervention signals a return to OpenAI’s altruistic roots or a calculated power play in the AI race.
0 Comments