Can Musk’s Bold Bid Spark A New AI Era?

In a bold move shaking up the tech world, a consortium led by Elon Musk has submitted a staggering $97.4 billion offer to acquire the nonprofit entity that controls OpenAI. This high-stakes bid intensifies the long-running clash between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Musk confirmed the offer in a statement, expressing his desire to restore OpenAI to the “benevolent force” it once was focused on safety and open-source principles. In a sharp social media rebuttal on Musk’s platform X, Altman humorously retorted,

“No, thanks. But if you’d like, we can buy Twitter for $9.74 billion,”

highlighting the deep-rooted tensions between the two tech titans.

Musk’s bid is supported by his AI startup, xAI, and could potentially lead to a merger with OpenAI if the deal goes through. The offer is further backed by prominent investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, 8VC, and Ari Emanuel’s investment fund. Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, is also involved, though he declined to comment.

The move comes amid growing scrutiny of OpenAI’s transformation from its nonprofit origins in 2015 to a profit-driven model, a shift Musk has long criticized. His legal challenge against OpenAI further intensifies the conflict, as he labels its partnership with Microsoft as monopolistic, accusing the tech giant of stifling competition.

Meanwhile, concerns over Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI have caught the attention of the FTC. In comparison, SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25 billion in the company potentially pushing its valuation to $300 billion.

In a related development, Microsoft has revised its long-term agreement with OpenAI, allowing the use of competing cloud providers. OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle recently announced a joint venture dubbed “Stargate” to build U.S.-based cloud computing data centres.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve rapidly, Musk’s audacious $97 billion offer represents not just an attempt to reclaim influence, but a broader struggle over the future of AI innovation, regulation, and corporate control.