{"id":127263,"date":"2025-02-11T07:47:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T07:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai"},"modified":"2025-02-12T21:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:17:43","slug":"musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai","title":{"rendered":"Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Tanzania. <\/strong><\/span>A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, another salvo in the billionaire\u2019s fight to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s bid is likely to ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the future of the ChatGPT maker at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology. Altman on Monday promptly posted on X: \u201cno thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit, but left before the company took off. He founded the competing AI startup xAI in 2023.<\/p>\n

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of tech and social media company X, is a close ally of President Donald Trump. He spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump, and leads the Department of Government Efficiency, a new arm of the White House tasked with radically shrinking the federal bureaucracy. Musk recently criticized a $500 billion OpenAI-led project announced by Trump at the White House.<\/p>\n

OpenAI is now trying to transition into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, which it says is required to secure the capital needed for developing the best AI models.<\/p>\n

Musk sued Altman and others in August last year, claiming they violated contract provisions by putting profit ahead of the public good in the push to advance AI. In November, he asked a U.S. district judge for a preliminary injunction blocking OpenAI from converting to a for-profit structure.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman says the founders originally approached him to fund a nonprofit focused on developing AI to benefit humanity, but that it was now focused on making money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,\u201d Musk said in a statement on Monday. \u201cWe will make sure that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman told staff in a message that the company\u2019s board of directors intends to make clear it has no interest in Musk\u2019s \u201csupposed bid\u201d, according to a report by The Information on Monday.<\/p>\n

Musk and OpenAI backer Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The consortium led by Musk includes his AI startup xAI, Baron Capital Group, Emanuel Capital and others.<\/p>\n

xAI could merge with OpenAI following a deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported Musk\u2019s offer earlier on Monday. xAI recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u2018Throwing a wrench\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThis (bid) is definitely throwing a wrench in things,\u201d said Jonathan Macey, a Yale Law School professor specializing in corporate governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nonprofit is supposed to take money to do whatever good deeds, and if OpenAI prefers to sell it to somebody else for less money, it\u2019s a concern for protecting the interests of the beneficiaries of the not-for-profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI was valued at $157 billion in its last funding round, cementing its status as one of the most valuable private companies in the world. SoftBank Group is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of $300 billion, including the new funds, Reuters reported in January.<\/p>\n

Aside from any antitrust implications, a deal this size would need Musk and his consortium to raise enormous funds.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s stock in Tesla is valued at roughly $165 billion, according to LSEG data, but his leverage with banks is likely to be thin after his $44 billion buyout of X, which was then called Twitter, in 2022.<\/p>\n

To finance such a bid, Musk could sell part of his stake in Tesla or take a loan against his stake, or use his stake in rocket company SpaceX that is worth tens of billions of dollars as collateral, according to an uninvolved investment banker, who requested anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusk\u2019s offer to buy OpenAI\u2019s nonprofit should significantly complicate OpenAI\u2019s current fundraising and the process of converting into a for-profit corporation,\u201d said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe offer seems to be backed by more credible investors… OpenAI may not be able to ignore it. It will be the fiduciary responsibility of OpenAI\u2019s board to decide whether this is a better offer, which could call into question the offer from SoftBank.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Tanzania<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Tanzania. A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, another salvo in the billionaire\u2019s fight to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm. Musk\u2019s bid is likely to ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":127262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[711],"class_list":["post-127263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-tanzania"],"yoast_head":"\nMusk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI - Tanzania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, ano ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, ano ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tanzania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-11T07:47:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-12T21:17:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2025\/02\/sm_1739249293.84515.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"438\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-11T07:47:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-12T21:17:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\"},\"wordCount\":747,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2025\/02\/sm_1739249293.84515.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"tanzania\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai\",\"name\":\"Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI - 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