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Elon Musk and a group of investors have put in a $97.4 billion bid to buy all of OpenAI’s assets, submitting their offer directly to the company’s board of directors.
Earlier this year, OpenAI announced plans to restructure, in a bid to create a public benefit corporation that would free it from the restrictions set by its nonprofit parent organization. In September, ReadWrite reported that while the nonprofit arm would continue to exist as a separate entity, discussions about the restructuring were still ongoing.
However, the billionaire’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted the bid on Monday (Feb. 10). Musk had criticized OpenAI’s restructuring plans, calling the potential move “illegal,” as he and CEO Sam Altman had been engaged in a legal battle since March 2024, which was eventually dropped in July.
The lawsuit was about Musk claiming that Altman and OpenAI went back on their original promise to work for the good of humanity. He argued that by shifting toward a profit-driven model, teaming up with Microsoft, and limiting public access to its technology, OpenAI was breaking that commitment.
Musk aims for OpenAI in a bid to make it ‘safety-focused’
Cited by the Wall Street Journal, Toberoff stated: “If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI, Inc. Board of Directors 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.”
The Tesla chief has also issued a statement, saying: “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.”
no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025
Altman quickly fired back, saying: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk, in turn, called him a “swindler.”
The bid is backed by Musk’s AI company, xAI, along with several investment firms, including one led by Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of the secretive government contractor Palantir. Ari Emanuel, the CEO of entertainment giant Endeavor, is also part of the group through his investment fund.
ReadWrite has reached out to OpenAI for comment.
Featured image: Grok
