OPEN AI receives $97.4B bid from Musk-led group

A consortium of investors headed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed a USD 97.4 billion offer to purchase OPEN AI's assets. In reaction, OPEN AI CEO Sam Altman remarked that they would buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if desired.

The acquisition of OPEN AI involves Elon Musk's AI firm, Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel, and several other investors. This unexpected proposal might interfere with OPEN AI's attempts to secure a USD 40 billion funding agreement, which would considerably enhance the company's valuation from merely four months prior.

According to three anonymous sources familiar with the deal, the new funding round led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is anticipated to value OPEN AI at USD 300 billion. Upon completion, the deal would position OpenAI among the world's most valuable private firms, alongside Musk's SpaceX and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

In August of the previous year, Musk claimed that OpenAI was focusing more on profits rather than its original nonprofit mission to advance AI for the benefit of all humanity. Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015, departed before the company began operations and subsequently established the rival AI startup xAI in 2023.