o increase the industry competition between artificial intelligence companies, Elon Musk has just announced that he is planning to lead a $97.4 billion
bid in order to buy the nonprofit company that controls OpenAI.
Elon Musk’s offer is expected to intensify the ongoing tensions with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, regarding the future of ChatGPT, the chatbot that plays a significant role in the generative AI industry.
After the CEO of Tesla had made his wishes public, Sam Altman promptly posted on his X account that he was not interested in this offer. Instead, he made an offer himself to acquire Twitter.
"No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.", Sam Altman stated.
In the Elon Musk OpenAI deal, various sponsors are expected to be involved besides the xAI company, such as Valor Equity Partners, Ari Emanuel - the Hollywood mogul, and Joe Lonsdale’s venture firm 8VC.
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It should be mentioned that this offer from Elon Musk comes at a moment when the OpenAI startup is planning to close various deals. Currently, OpenAI seeks to convert to a for-profit structure which could significantly increase the valuation from $40 billion to a higher number of $340 billion. Also, the company plans to launch an artificial intelligence infrastructure project of about $500 billion.
Elon Musk along with Sam Altman, founded the OpenAI startup back in 2015, but in 2019, Musk decided to step down from its role in order to open its own artificial intelligence technology. In 2023, he launched xAI, an artificial intelligence company that focuses on advancing scientific discoveries.
“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.”, Elon Musk said in a statement.
If this deal closes soon, the two companies xAI and OpenAI could potentially be merged together to become a powerful artificial intelligence technology.
In a recent funding round, the OpenAI startup was valued at $157 billion, which confirmed the fact that this artificial intelligence company is one of the most valuable companies that are private globally. Currently, the SoftBank group is planning to lead the next funding round for OpenAI of up to $40 billion which could increase the AI startup valuation to $300 billion.
Stay tuned for more updates!
By
Alice Brasoveanu
•
February 11, 2025 10:15 AM
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