Elon Musk-led group offers $97.4bn for control of OpenAI but Sam Altman says ‘no thank you’

Bid by group is latest instalment in rivalry between two tech giants

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, left, and tech billionaire Elon Musk. AFP

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman on Monday rejected a $97.4 billion offer from a consortium led by Elon Musk to control the artificial intelligence company, as the rivalry between the two technology chiefs escalates.

Mr Musk and his startup xAI, along with a consortium of investment firms, are seeking control of OpenAI to return it to its original mission as a non-profit research lab, Reuters reported, quoting Mr Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff.

Details of the bid were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Mr Toberoff did not immediately respond to The National's request for comment.

Mr Altman swiftly responded to the offer on X, tweeting: "No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."

Mr Musk bought X – then known as Twitter – for $44 billion in 2022. Fidelity mutual funds in December valued the company at $12.32 billion.

The offer was the latest instalment in a years-long feud between the two since Mr Musk resigned from OpenAI's board in 2018. He sued OpenAI last year to stop the ChatGPT maker from becoming a for-profit entity. OpenAI says it needs to convert to a profit company because it requires more capital than the company had imagined.

A California judge last week said parts of Mr Musk's lawsuit against the company might go to trial, adding that he would have to testify in court and present evidence to a jury.

Tech billionaire Mr Musk also criticised a recently announced $500 billion project called Stargate, led by OpenAI, that President Donald Trump heralded at the White House last month. The Tesla chief cast doubt on the availability of funding, writing on X at the time: "They don't actually have the money."

He also said in a tweet that Softbank, one of the partners involved in the project, "has well under $10bn secured. I have that on good authority".

Mr Altman responded on X: "Wrong, as you surely know."

The OpenAI executive also invited Mr Musk to visit the first Stargate site in Texas and requested that, in his role within the Trump administration, should put "America first" ahead of his company's interests.

OpenAI did not immediately return The National's request for comment.