A group of investors led by Elon Musk has made a $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI. The information was confirmed by Musk’s lawyer, Mark Toberov, in a comment to The Wall Street Journal.
This offer is the latest move in the standoff between Musk and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Musk criticizes the company for abandoning its original open-source model and insists on returning to transparent operations. “We will make OpenAI open and safety-focused again,” Musk stated through his lawyer.
However, OpenAI is not interested in selling. Sam Altman quickly responded to Musk’s offer with a joke on social network X: “No, thanks, but we could buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” He also called Musk’s initiative “an attempt to slow down OpenAI.”
Despite the public refusal, there is still no official decision from OpenAI’s board of directors. One board member, Larry Summers, said he had not received any official information about the offer, apart from media reports.
