Musk Proposes to Acquire OpenAI
Elon Musk, at the helm of a group of investors, has proposed an unsolicited bid valued at $97.4 billion to take over OpenAI. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
CEO Sam Altman has turned down a bid by Elon Musk and a group of investors to acquire OpenAI, suggesting instead that they consider purchasing Musk's social media platform, X, for $9.74 billion.
Elon Musk, along with an investment consortium, has proposed a $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, arguing for a return to the company's foundational mission of developing technology for humanity's benefit. This proposal was presented to OpenAI's board of directors on Monday, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Musk's initiative is a direct challenge to OpenAI's shift towards a for-profit model.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk stated, as conveyed by his attorney, Marc Toberoff.
In response to the offer, Altman rejected the bid and humorously suggested that Musk buy X instead. Musk countered by labeling Altman a “swindler” and referring to him as “Scam Altman.”
Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, contributing around $45 million, but he departed from the board in 2018 after disagreements regarding the company’s direction with Altman. Since that time, he has consistently criticized OpenAI for its commercialization strategies and its close collaboration with Microsoft.
In March 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the organization has deviated from its original principles by prioritizing profits over its humanitarian mission.
Musk's attorney remarked that if Altman and OpenAI's board “are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time,” as referenced in an AP statement.
OpenAI, a leading U.S. artificial intelligence research organization, is facing intensified competition from Chinese AI companies, particularly DeepSeek. In January 2025, the Hangzhou-based startup launched its open-source AI model, DeepSeek-R1, which reportedly rivals or outperforms OpenAI's models in areas such as mathematical reasoning and code generation.
Musk is also working on his AI venture, xAI, which debuted in 2023. The company has rolled out Grok, a chatbot integrated into X intended to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Musk is framing xAI as a competitor to both OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind, focusing on creating AI systems that emphasize truthfulness and transparency.
To bolster the U.S. position in the global AI landscape, President Donald Trump announced the Stargate project in January 2025. This initiative, a partnership with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aims to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over four years. Recent reports indicate that SoftBank is nearing the completion of a $40 billion investment deal, which would value OpenAI at $260 billion.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
Elon Musk, along with an investment consortium, has proposed a $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, arguing for a return to the company's foundational mission of developing technology for humanity's benefit. This proposal was presented to OpenAI's board of directors on Monday, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Musk's initiative is a direct challenge to OpenAI's shift towards a for-profit model.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk stated, as conveyed by his attorney, Marc Toberoff.
In response to the offer, Altman rejected the bid and humorously suggested that Musk buy X instead. Musk countered by labeling Altman a “swindler” and referring to him as “Scam Altman.”
Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, contributing around $45 million, but he departed from the board in 2018 after disagreements regarding the company’s direction with Altman. Since that time, he has consistently criticized OpenAI for its commercialization strategies and its close collaboration with Microsoft.
In March 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the organization has deviated from its original principles by prioritizing profits over its humanitarian mission.
Musk's attorney remarked that if Altman and OpenAI's board “are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time,” as referenced in an AP statement.
OpenAI, a leading U.S. artificial intelligence research organization, is facing intensified competition from Chinese AI companies, particularly DeepSeek. In January 2025, the Hangzhou-based startup launched its open-source AI model, DeepSeek-R1, which reportedly rivals or outperforms OpenAI's models in areas such as mathematical reasoning and code generation.
Musk is also working on his AI venture, xAI, which debuted in 2023. The company has rolled out Grok, a chatbot integrated into X intended to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Musk is framing xAI as a competitor to both OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind, focusing on creating AI systems that emphasize truthfulness and transparency.
To bolster the U.S. position in the global AI landscape, President Donald Trump announced the Stargate project in January 2025. This initiative, a partnership with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aims to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over four years. Recent reports indicate that SoftBank is nearing the completion of a $40 billion investment deal, which would value OpenAI at $260 billion.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
