A group of investors led by Elon Musk has made a huge offer of $97.6 billion to buy OpenAI, the company that develops advanced artificial intelligence. This information was shared by Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, who confirmed it to The Wall Street Journal.
This bid is part of an ongoing conflict between Musk and Sam Altman, who is one of the co-founders of OpenAI. They started the company together in 2015, along with several others. Currently, Musk is also involved in a legal battle with OpenAI because he has filed a request to stop the company from changing its structure from a nonprofit to a different model. Musk and his team claim that their goal with this bid is to steer OpenAI back to its original mission of creating open-source artificial intelligence, which means making their technology available for everyone to use and improve upon.
Musk expressed his views on this matter, stating, “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” through his lawyer. He believes that if they succeed in buying OpenAI, they will ensure that it adheres to these principles. Musk’s own AI company, called xAI, is part of the group making this offer, leading some to speculate that if the acquisition goes through, OpenAI and xAI could merge into one organization.
Read Also: Is AI Making Us Less Smart?
In a related comment, Musk pointed to a specific AI model called Grok, which his company xAI has made open source. He emphasized that at xAI, they follow the values he originally expected OpenAI to uphold. Musk stated, “We’ve made Grok open source, and we respect the rights of content creators,” reiterating his belief that OpenAI should return to its original mission of being a safe and beneficial force in the AI space.
In response to Musk’s offer, Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, made a lighthearted post on social media, jokingly suggesting that while they appreciate the offer, they would be interested in buying Twitter for $9.74 billion instead. This is a playful reference to the fact that Musk, along with other investors, bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. TechCrunch, a technology news outlet, has reached out to OpenAI for any additional comments on this situation.
