A consortium of investors led by billionaire Elon Musk has made a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
The offer, confirmed by Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff, was submitted to OpenAI’s board on Monday, seeking to purchase “all assets” of the tech firm.
This development is the latest episode in the ongoing rivalry between Musk, often seen as the world’s richest man and a key advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The two former allies are now at odds over the future direction of the company they co-founded in 2015. Responding to the bid, Altman took to Musk’s platform, X, and quipped, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
OpenAI has been at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into the mainstream, spurring massive investments in the sector.
While originally founded as a non-profit to ensure AI’s development benefits humanity, OpenAI has since pivoted to a for-profit structure, a move Musk criticizes as a betrayal of its founding mission.
Altman, however, argues that the transition is essential to secure the necessary funding to build cutting-edge AI models.
Musk’s bid to reclaim control of OpenAI is being supported by his AI company, xAI, along with private equity firms Baron Capital Group and Valor Management.
“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,” Musk declared in a statement.
The $97.4 billion offer falls significantly short of OpenAI’s $157 billion valuation during its latest funding round in October. Recent talks suggest the company’s value may now exceed $300 billion.
Toberoff hinted that the consortium might be willing to increase the offer, saying they are “prepared to consider matching or exceeding” any competing bids.
“As the co-founder of OpenAI and the most innovative and successful tech industry leader in history, Musk is the person best positioned to protect and grow OpenAI’s technology,” Toberoff added on behalf of Musk and other investors.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is partnering with Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund to build a $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure project in the United States.
Dubbed “The Stargate Project,” the initiative was announced at the White House by President Donald Trump, who hailed it as “the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history” and emphasized its role in keeping “the future of technology” within the U.S.
Despite his advisory role to Trump, Musk expressed skepticism about the new venture’s financial capability.
“It does not ‘actually have the money’ it has pledged to invest,” Musk claimed, though he did not offer further details to back up the assertion.
