Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, has made an offer to acquire artificial intelligence company OpenAI for $97.4 billion (approximately ₹8.6 lakh crore). Along with Musk’s AI company xAI, investors like Valor Equity Partners and Baron Capital have also joined this offer.
Rejecting Musk’s proposal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded in an X post, saying, "No, thank you. However, if you're interested, we would be happy to buy Twitter (now X) for $9.74 billion (around ₹84,000 crore)." In response, Musk called Altman "Scam Altman."
Musk Wants to Turn OpenAI into a Non-Profit Research Lab
Musk stated that it is time for OpenAI to return to being an open-source, safety-focused force, ensuring that it happens. Through this acquisition, he aims to revert OpenAI into a non-profit research lab.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk’s lawyer Mark Toberoff submitted the offer to OpenAI’s board on Monday.
Altman and Musk Co-Founded OpenAI
In 2015, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and nine others co-founded OpenAI. However, Musk left the company in 2018. In 2023, he launched his AI startup, xAI, to compete with OpenAI.
In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and some of its executives, accusing them of violating contracts. He alleged that OpenAI had abandoned its non-profit principles and was now operating as a commercial venture.
OpenAI now follows a "capped-profit" model, where investors can only earn limited profits. According to CNBC, SoftBank is investing $40 billion (around ₹3.4 lakh crore) in OpenAI at a valuation of $260 billion (around ₹22 lakh crore).
OpenAI: The Parent Company of ChatGPT
OpenAI launched its popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, in November 2022. The tool quickly gained global recognition for its capabilities, including writing music, poetry, and essays. ChatGPT functions as a conversational AI, capable of interacting with users in a human-like manner.
Musk Acquired Twitter for $44 Billion
Elon Musk purchased the microblogging platform Twitter (now X) on October 27, 2022, for $44 billion, an amount equivalent to over ₹3.8 lakh crore today. Since acquiring X, Musk has introduced several major changes and aims to transform it into an "everything app."
Following the takeover, Musk fired four top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Legal Executive Vijaya Gadde, and Senior Executive Sean Edgett. At the time of acquisition, Twitter had approximately 7,500 employees, but now only around 2,500 remain.
Musk and Altman Clash Over $500 Billion Stargate AI Project
Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are at odds over former U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed $500 billion Stargate Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure project. Musk has questioned SoftBank’s capability to execute the project, while Altman has defended it, arguing that Musk’s assessment is incorrect. Altman is a key partner in the project, whereas Musk holds a significant role in the Trump administration.
