Elon Musk leads $97.4B bid to reclaim OpenAI's nonprofit roots
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(FILES) Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk looks on ahead of the inauguration ceremony where Donald Trump will sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on 20 January 2025. US President Donald Trump said in remarks airing on 9 February 2025, that Musk, who is presiding over a purge of US government jobs, will help find "hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud" in federal agencies.
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A group of investors led by Elon Musk has made an unsolicited bid of $97.4 billion to acquire the nonprofit overseeing OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The offer, submitted to OpenAI’s board on Monday by Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff, aims to steer the organization back to its original mission of prioritizing open-source development and AI safety.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015, has been a vocal critic of the company’s shift from a nonprofit model to a for-profit structure, particularly following major investments from Microsoft and others. OpenAI, however, has dismissed Musk’s criticisms and is continuing its transition into a for-profit entity, which it aims to complete by 2026.
This latest move adds another layer to the ongoing feud between Musk and OpenAI’s leadership. Since parting ways with the company, Musk has launched his own AI venture, xAI, in 2023, positioning himself as a direct competitor.
