On the one hand, tech billionaire Elon Musk heads an incredible array of companies such as electric car maker Tesla, space exploration giant SpaceX, satellite compoany Starlink, social media platform X and Artificial Intelligence xAI, among others.
Any one of those companies above could be enough to fill an ordinary man’s life. But, as we know, the richest man in the planet, Musk, is far from it.
But on the other hand, he’s also leading a veritable revolution with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), implementing President Donald J. Trump’s policies at a titanic pace, having shaken DC and the deep state to a level that we could only imagine before it really started happening.
So, one could assume that NOW, Musk would have enough on his plate – perhaps even more than enough.
But no, we know learn that a consortium of investors led by Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence company OpenAI.
This is widely seen as an escalation in his battle with Sam Altman over the company behind the popular AI-bot ChatGPT.
Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, has revealed that he submitted the bid to OpenAI’s board of directors today (10).
The Wall Street Journal reported:
“The unsolicited offer adds a major complication to Altman’s carefully laid plans for OpenAI’s future, including converting it to a for-profit company and spending up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure through a joint venture called Stargate. He and Musk are already fighting in court over the direction of OpenAI.
‘It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was’, Musk said in a statement provided by Toberoff. ‘We will make sure that happens’.”
Ten years ago, Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit. After Musk left the company, Altman created a for-profit subsidiary.
Altman is now in the difficult process of turning the for-profit into a traditional company, and spinning out the nonprofit.
“One of the thorniest questions in the conversion has been how the nonprofit will be valued. Musk’s bid sets a high bar and may mean that he, or whoever runs the nonprofit, would end up with a large and possibly controlling stake in the new OpenAI.”
“The bid is being backed by Musk’s own artificial intelligence company xAI, which could merge with OpenAI following a deal. He also has several investors backing him, including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital and 8VC, a venture firm led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Ari Emanuel, CEO of Hollywood company Endeavor, is also backing the offer through his investment fund.”
Toberoff says that Musk’s and his investor group are prepared to match and/or exceed any alternative bids.
“’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’, he said.”
The conversions of a charity into a for-profit company is tricky. Meta Platforms is making an open opposition to the plan.
OpenAI has pledged to complete the transition by late 2026.
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