Elon Musk leads USD 97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI, Sam Altman offers to buy "Twitter" instead

Washington DC: A group of investors led by CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk made a USD 97.4 billion bid to acquire the assets of OpenAI, The New York Times reported.

In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took a jibe at the offer on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "No thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."

The latest development marks Musk's latest challenge to OpenAI, an organisation he helped establish nearly a decade ago.

The consortium includes Vy Capital and Xai, Musk's artificial intelligence company, as well as the Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel and other investors, according to sources who requested anonymity due to the ongoing negotiations. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported news of the offer,

The New York Times reported citing a person familiar with OpenAI's potential response that the company has not yet seen Musk's bid. This unsolicited offer could disrupt OpenAI's efforts to finalise a USD 40 billion funding deal, which would significantly increase the company's valuation from just four months ago.

The new funding round, led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, is expected to value OpenAI at USD 300 billion, according to three sources familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

If completed, this deal would place OpenAI among the most valuable private companies globally, alongside Musk's SpaceX and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, according to The New York Times.

Notably, Musk and Altman have been at loggerheads for quite some time. In August last year, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of putting profits before its initial nonprofit mission of advancing AI in a way that benefits all of humanity. (ANI)

Also Read: Russia-US Ties 'On Verge Of Rupture': Russian Deputy FM

Also Watch: