GuShiio.com 
(Photo source: semafor)
Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fought again.
GuShiio.comAGI reported on February 11 that an investment consortium led by Elon Musk proposed to acquire the non-profit organization that controls OpenAI for US$97.4 billion (approximately RMB 711.9 billion). According to the acquisition plan, Musk will merge OpenAI with its xAI after the transaction is concluded.
The move intensified the battle between Musk and Altman over control of OpenAI.
Musk’s lawyer Mark Tobelov said that the acquisition proposal had been submitted to the OpenAI board of directors on Monday local time in the United States. He said in a statement: It is time for OpenAI to become an open source, secure, and aiming to benefit society. It’s time. We will ensure that this is achieved and we are prepared to match or exceed any bids higher than OpenAI’s own.& rdquo;
In response, Altman responded on social platforms: Thank you, no. But if you want, we are willing to buy Twitter (specifically calling X Twitter) for $9.74 billion.” rdquo;
This was a clever ridicule by Altman of Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and changed its name to X. Therefore, Musk immediately retorted in the following post: Liar.” rdquo;
American investor Paul Graham advised Altman to be careful when making jokes, in case he (Musk) really wanted to sell.
Clearly, Musk’s savvy bid for OpenAI was clearly rejected.The latest news is that Altman has told employees that the board intends to make it clear that it is not interested in Musk’s so-called$97.4 billion bid, and that the offer is inconsistent with OpenAI’s mission to develop advanced AI for all mankind.
Altman emphasized that Musk’s move was simply embarrassing.
In 10 years, Musk and OpenAI have gone from ally to Enemy
Lawyers provided a statement from Musk:
Now is the time for OpenAI to return to its open source, security-centered power forever, and we will make sure that happens.
Later, Musk himself posted a 20-second Short Video on X. In the video, Altman said that he had not received any equity from OpenAI, accompanied by the text: Fraud Altman. rdquo;
According to reports, as early as January 7, Musk had filed a series of legal lawsuits accusing OpenAI of betraying its original non-profit mission, establishing a for-profit division and working with its largest investors.MicrosoftCollusion to lead the development of AI. Lawyers wrote to the attorneys general in California, where OpenAI is headquartered, and Delaware, where it is registered, asking them to publicly bid for the company to determine the fair market value of its charitable assets. Musk and other critics said they believe OpenAI may underestimate its value when it divested the nonprofit organization.
Clearly, Musk wants to return OpenAI’s dominance and the more than $44 million he invested.
In fact, as early as 5,Altman realized the potential of AI, worried that its future would be difficult to control, and worried that AI leadership would fall into the hands of technology giants, so he planned to prepare to create OpenAI. At about the same time, Musk also noticed OpenAI and suggested raising at least US$100 million to compete with the giants. He also hoped to develop AGI (General Artificial Intelligence) through OpenAI open source to ensure that technology benefits all mankind rather than being monopolized by a few large companies. Musk gave full support to OpenAI. In addition to an annual salary of approximately US$300,000, the early OpenAI team could also obtain SpaceX shares.
But by 8,OpenAI did not develop as expected due to funding and other factors. Due to its inability to afford expensive chips, Altman approached Microsoft. After negotiation, Microsoft finally invested a total of US$50 million. Musk expressed dissatisfaction with this, believing that this was a disgusting deal and marking the beginning of OpenAI’s departure from closed-source commercialization.
At that time, Musk severely criticized the OpenAI leadership, believing that the organization had deviations in fund scheduling and direction, and even proposed to absorb OpenAI into the company.Tesla, he was appointed CEO, but was vetoed by Altman and other founders. At this time, OpenAI showed signs of transforming into a limited profit entity (OpenAI LP). Musk strongly opposed this and believed that OpenAI had deviated from its original mission and gradually became a vassal of the interests of large companies such as Microsoft.
Subsequently, Musk was kicked out of the board of directors, but still promised financial support, but the rift in the relationship between the two sides was difficult to repair.
In March 9,OpenAI officially announced the transition from non-profit to capped for profit, creating OpenAI LP with a profit cap of 100 times any investment. In the same year, Microsoft invested US$1 billion in OpenAI and obtained commercial authorization for OpenAI technology. Some OpenAI technologies appeared in Microsoft products and businesses. Musk’s attitude completely changed from supporting OpenAI to rejecting its development path, and the two sides formally broke.
By the end of 2022,As you all know, the ChatGPT craze swept the world and ignited the global trend of AI entrepreneurship. Microsoft invested US$13 billion, which ultimately allowed OpenAI to further consolidate its position as an industry leader. According to public information statistics, as of October 2024, ChatGPT has more than 3.1 billion monthly visits. Musk established his own big model company xAI in July of the same year, and his relationship with OpenAI deteriorated.
Starting from 2024,Musk formally sued OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of violating their original commitments and seeking damages. The complaint mentioned that between 2016 and 2020, Musk donated more than US$44 million to OpenAI, also paid rent for OpenAI’s San Francisco office through Musk Industries, and invested a lot of time and energy to help OpenAI recruit top talents. In addition, OpenAI also disclosed 50 emails with Musk to fight back.
Before the acquisition, Musk’s lawyers said that“If Altman and the current OpenAI board are to become a fully for-profit company, it is crucial that the charity be fairly compensated to make up for what its leadership has taken away: control of the most transformative technology of our time. rdquo;
OpenAI said Musk’s legal claims were groundless and excessive, and said the nonprofit organization would receive the full value of its ownership in the for-profit organization. Documents released by the company in December showed that Musk had previously supported transforming OpenAI into a for-profit organization, but gave up because he could not control it.
It is clear that Musk is in a fierce legal and public relations battle with Altman.
OpenAI has only an equity value of US$65 billion, but Microsoft will make a profit of US$100 billion
Currently, Altman is transforming the OpenAI subsidiary into a traditional company and plans to divest the original non-profit organization, which will hold part of the new for-profit company.
At the end of December last year, OpenAI announced a comprehensive reorganization plan. It will establish a for-profit company, and all commercial assets and personnel will be placed under the jurisdiction of this for-profit company; the original non-profit organization will become a for-profit company. Shareholders and partners of the company, focusing on ethical, social justice and other issues related to AI. The original external investors, represented by Microsoft, will be transformed into shareholders of the new OpenAI for-profit company.
It is reported that Altman, as CEO, will receive a 7% stake in the new OpenAI company. Considering that OpenAI’s latest valuation has reached US$260 billion, this will put him among the ranks of billion-dollar billionaires. However, this statement has not been officially confirmed.
(Picture comes from the Internet)
However, the valuation of non-profit institutions has become one of the most thorny issues in the acquisition.Musk’s bid sets a higher valuation benchmark, which could mean that he or the person who will run the nonprofit in the future will have a large and possibly controlling stake in the new OpenAI.
Musk lawyer Marc Toberoff said in today’s press release that the nonprofit’s board’s plan is to relinquish control of OpenAI’s entire for-profit business in exchange for a minority stake in a new merged for-profit entity. Who would make such a deal?” rdquo;
However, The Information pointed out that after the conversion, the nonprofit organization will eventually receive a minority stake of about 25% in OpenAI business, which is currently valued at $260 billion, which means that the 25% stake is worth $65 billion, lower than Musk’s bid. However, Musk’s team ignored OpenAI’s current organizational structure. As things stand, Microsoft, which has long supported OpenAI, is entitled to future $100 billion in OpenAI profits, which reduces the value of for-profit organizations.
Currently, Musk is also supported by multiple investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital and venture capital firm 8VC led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Ari Emanuel, CEO of Hollywood company Endeavor, also supported the acquisition through its investment fund.
The day after U.S. President Trump took office, Altman announced at the White House a plan called Stargate with the new president and other business leaders, which plans to invest up to 500 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. data centers over the next four years. Musk refuted his claim on X that Stargate’s investors had not raised the promised funds and called Altman a liar.
Next, the controversy between Musk and Altman will continue.
Even if Musk does not buy OpenAI, Musk’s bid may force OpenAI to reconsider how to convert new equity and investor interests, and may aggravate market uncertainty about OpenAI’s future, making a new round of $40 billion funding plans more difficult.
If Musk succeeds in increasing the potential market value of the nonprofit’s assets, it could dilute the value of shares held by OpenAI investors, including Microsoft, in the for-profit sector.
According to reports, SoftBank plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, and OpenAI will raise up to $40 billion in a new round, which could make it worth as much as $300 billion.
