Musk Offers $97.4 Billion to Acquire OpenAI!

Earlier this Monday, local time, Musk sent lawyers to submit an offer for all assets of the non-profit organization to the OpenAI board.

$97.4 billion is approximately 711.843 billion yuan in RMB.

Moreover, this is not Musk’s final take-it-or-leave-it price. Lawyers stated, “Musk’s investor group is prepared to match or exceed any bid higher than OpenAI’s own.”

In response, Altman urgently responded on X:

Thanks, but no thanks!

However, if you’re willing, we are ready to acquire Twitter for $9.74 billion.

Yes, he directly referred to it as Twitter.

And the offered $9.74 billion (approximately 71.15265 billion yuan), not only deliberately shifted Musk’s bid one decimal place to the left but is also far below the $44 billion (approx. 310 billion yuan) Musk originally paid when he acquired it.

Although documents submitted to regulators show that revenue since Musk accepted [Twitter] has dropped significantly, but (doge)…

“It is time for OpenAI to return to open-source and safety-centered forces forever”

Lawyers provided a statement from Musk, which read:

Now is the time for OpenAI to permanently return to its open-source, safety-centered roots, and we will ensure this happens.

Two key words: “open source” and “safety.”

Then, Musk himself posted a 20-second short video on X, in which Altman stated that he had not received equity from OpenAI.

He captioned it bluntly:

Sam Altman, you big liar!

Why does Musk want to acquire OpenAI?

To understand this, we must first look at a brief background:

In 2015, Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI.

Initially, OpenAI was positioned as a non-profit research institution dedicated to advancing AI development.

However, due to disagreements over the company’s direction, Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and poached Demis Hassabis to Tesla (though Hassabis later returned to OpenAI).

Since then, especially since the launch of ChatGPT, Musk has publicly accused OpenAI of focusing on profit maximization, which contradicts its original mission. One piece of evidence is OpenAI’s strong partnership with Microsoft.

Later, Musk founded his own large model company, xAI, launched the Grok model, and occasionally criticized OpenAI.

Subsequently, he began filing lawsuits against OpenAI, accusing it of violating antitrust regulations and attempting to prevent its transition into a for-profit entity.

Then, earlier this Monday, Musk made his latest move:

Leading a consortium, he offered $97.4 billion with the intention of acquiring OpenAI.

However, in response to various controversies from the outside world, OpenAI had already made a clear statement at the end of last year, indicating that to ensure its mission of achieving AGI for the benefit of all humanity, the board is evaluating OpenAI’s corporate structure.

In simple terms, OpenAI plans to maintain a hybrid status of being both a “non-profit organization” and a “for-profit organization” in the future.

The specific plan involves transforming OpenAI’s existing for-profit entity into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC).

Then, the PBC would raise the necessary funds to reach AGI and operate/control OpenAI’s daily operations and commercial activities.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s non-profit organization would retain business shares but lose control; it would also hire leadership teams and employees to conduct charitable activities in fields such as healthcare, education, and science.

In its article at the time, OpenAI stated: “The significant equity interest of the non-profit organization in the existing for-profit entity will take the form of PBC stock, valued by independent financial advisors. This will multiply the resources donated by our donors.”

Furthermore, this plan began operating in 2025 and is scheduled to complete its transition by the end of 2026.

According to media reports, in late January, Altman was leading OpenAI in raising a new round of financing worth $40 billion.

The purpose of this financing is twofold: on one hand, to fund its loss-making business operations; on the other, part of the funds will fulfill OpenAI’s commitments to the “Stargate” project.

Before this round of financing, OpenAI’s valuation was $260 billion, and it is expected to reach $300 billion after the financing.

Reports indicate that Japan’s SoftBank Group is expected to lead this round of OpenAI’s financing, with an investment amount between $15 billion and $25 billion.

Is the large sum intended to gain controlling shares?

This time, Musk’s massive bid aims to acquire exactly the non-profit portion of OpenAI, described as “an offer for all assets of the OpenAI non-profit organization.”

$97.4 billion is not only supported by Musk’s own AI company, xAI, but also by other supporters—

Including well-known VCs such as Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, and other individual investors.

Moreover, lawyers stepped forward to state on behalf that Musk’s investor group is prepared to match or exceed any bid higher than OpenAI’s own.

The Wall Street Journal stated that this unsolicited bid significantly increases the complexity of Altman’s “non-profit + for-profit” plan.

Because one of the most thorny issues in Altman’s conversion plan is how to value the non-profit portion.

“Musk’s offer sets a high standard,” wrote the Wall Street Journal, “which may mean that he or anyone running this non-profit organization could ultimately receive a large and potentially controlling stake in the new OpenAI.”

At the same time, due to Musk’s interference increasing uncertainty about OpenAI’s future, the round of financing Altman is currently raising might also go down the drain.

So, netizens watching from the sidelines couldn’t sit still!

Some did not understand Altman’s outright rejection, saying, “Bro, just casually rejecting a $97 billion offer?”

Of course, there were also serious discussions, focusing on the open-source angle and gently persuading Altman.

You don’t have a strong enough product team to successfully commercialize OpenAI’s slight advantage in large models.
Your video model is terrible~ And open-source large models are catching up fast.

Finally, some netizens hit the nail on the head, leaving a comment under Altman’s post:

You’re shouting about acquiring [Twitter], but first you need $9.74 billion.

And Grok, Musk’s own large model available on X, told us:

Synthesizing information from Forbes and other sources, as of early 2025, Altman’s net worth is approximately $1.1 billion.

References

1889070627908145538. 1889070627908145538 — x.com/elonmusk/status/1889070627908145538 1889059531625464090. 1889059531625464090 — x.com/sama/status/1889059531625464090