Elon Musk Reportedly Bid $97.4 Billion to Take Over OpenAI — and Sam Altman Just Rejected It

Elon Musk just launched a new battle with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Musk and a group of investors are making a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, escalating the fight over the AI company’s future, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The consortium includes Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, and 8VC—a venture firm led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Ari Emanuel, CEO of Hollywood company Endeavor, is also reportedly backing the offer through his investment fund. Musk’s own AI startup, xAI, has reportedly supported the bid and could merge with OpenAI if the deal goes through.

Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, submitted the bid to OpenAI’s board of directors on Monday.

The unsolicited offer comes as OpenAI is in talks to raise $40 billion in new funding—nearly doubling its valuation to $300 billion from just four months ago, according to The New York Times. Yet, despite its soaring valuation, OpenAI is not profitable and faces immense costs tied to AI infrastructure and computing power.

OpenAI also just spent big on its first Super Bowl ad with a 60-second spot.

Representatives for Musk and Altman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk’s bid adds fuel to the ongoing legal battle with Altman over OpenAI’s direction. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, left the company in 2019. Since then, Altman has transformed OpenAI into a for-profit powerhouse, securing billions from Microsoft and pushing forward on a $500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate. Musk has accused OpenAI of betraying its nonprofit origins and colluding with Microsoft to dominate AI development.

“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement provided by Toberoff and given to The Wall Street Journal. “We will make sure that happens.”