Elon Musk and Investors Propose $97.4 Billion Buyout of OpenAI, Sam Altman Rejects

A group of investors led by Elon Musk has made an offer of approximately $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, intensifying an ongoing legal dispute between Musk and the artificial intelligence company he co-founded. According to Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, the proposal aims to take control of OpenAI and restore its original mission as a nonprofit research lab.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman swiftly rejected the offer on Musk’s social platform, X, where he responded with a remark suggesting that if Musk was interested, OpenAI would be willing to purchase Twitter for $9.74 billion.

Musk originally acquired Twitter, now rebranded as X, for $44 billion in 2022.

The consortium backing the bid includes Musk’s AI startup, xAI, along with Baron Capital Group, Valor Management, Atreides Management, Vy Fund, Emanuel Capital Management, and Eight Partners VC.

Musk and Altman, both founding figures of OpenAI in 2015, have long clashed over the company’s leadership and strategic direction. Their rivalry escalated after Musk stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018.

Musk, an early investor and board member, sued OpenAI last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, accusing the company of straying from its original nonprofit mission of developing AI for the public good. During a court hearing last week, Toberoff stated that Musk had invested approximately $45 million in OpenAI between its founding and 2018.

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