Elon Musk is gearing up for a not-so-subtle takeover of OpenAI. The tech CEO and current owner of social media platform X and backer of OpenAI reportedly aims to “slow down a competitor” when the investor group he led put forward a $97.4 billion proposal for control of OpenAI, the company’s CEO Sam Altman told CNBC on Tuesday.
When asked how seriously he is taking Musk’s bid, which Altman previously declined in a X post, the OpenAI chief said: “Not particularly.”
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“I think it’s to slow down a competitor and catch up with his thing, but I don’t really know […] to the degree anybody does,” Altman added, in response to another reporter’s questions on the sidelines of the AI Action Summit in Paris.
Musk and Altman’s relationship is rooted in their shared involvement in AI. In 2015, they co-founded OpenAI alongside other tech leaders, aiming to develop AI safely. Musk was an early backer, while Altman took on a leadership role. However, in 2018, Musk stepped down from OpenAI’s board, citing potential conflicts of interest with Tesla’s AI work on autonomous vehicles.
In 2019, OpenAI transitioned from a non-profit to a “capped-profit” model, which Musk criticized, believing it could undermine safety and ethical standards. Meanwhile, Altman continued to lead OpenAI, guiding it toward more commercial applications like GPT models.
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While Musk focused on AI through Tesla and Neuralink, Altman pushed OpenAI further into the realm of advanced AI technologies. Their differing approaches to AI safety and commercialization have led to occasional public disagreements, marking a shift in their professional relationship.
Reportedly, CNBC confirmed on Monday that Musk is leading a group of investors in offering to buy control of OpenAI. The offer is for the nonprofit that oversees the artificial intelligence startup behind ChatGPT.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff said, adding that he submitted an offer on Monday.