Elon Musk makes $97.4bn bid for OpenAI
A consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk has put in a $97.4bn bid to purchase the non-profit organisation that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, just months after he sued the firm in an attempt to lock it from transitioning to a for-profit business.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who co-founded the company with Musk back in 2015, responded on social media platform X by saying: " No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74bn if you want."
Musk's bid was backed by his AI company xAI, which could merge with OpenAI if any kind of deal was to be reached, according to the Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI was valued at $157.0bn in October 2024, but SoftBank has been in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40.0bn in the AI giant at a valuation of $300.0bn, including the new funds.
The company has also been trying to transition into a for-profit business but Musk claims in his suit that he was originally approached to fund a non-profit focussed on developing AI to benefit humanity and that the company's shift would be a breach of this.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com