Elon Musk and a consortium of investors have made a $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI's controlling non-profit organization. The bid comes amid growing tensions between Musk and OpenAI's current leadership.

Marc Toberoff, Musk's lawyer, confirmed the bid was submitted to OpenAI's board on Monday, stating their intention to return OpenAI to its original open-source, safety-focused mission.

OpenAI, founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others, began as a non-profit research company with a $1 billion investment from Musk. However, Musk departed the board in 2018 to avoid conflicts with Tesla's AI ambitions.

The timing of Musk's offer is significant, coming shortly after OpenAI's announcement of Project Stargate - a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank. Musk publicly criticized this move, calling Altman a "swindler" and "liar."

Sam Altman swiftly rejected the offer on X/Twitter, countering with a $9.74 billion offer to purchase Twitter. He assured OpenAI employees that the company's structure prevents any individual from taking control.

The bid is supported by:

• xAI (Musk's AI company)
• Valor Equity Partners
• Baron Capital
• Atreides Management
• Vy Capital
• 8VC
• Ari Emanuel's investment fund

Recently released documents reveal Musk previously supported OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model, but withdrew when he couldn't secure leadership control. Through his lawyer, Musk's investor group has indicated their willingness to match or exceed any competing bids.

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