The proposal was presented to the OpenAI board on Monday by Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, which could jeopardize Altman’s efforts to transform OpenAI into a profit-driven organization and embark on an ambitious AI infrastructure initiative named Stargate.
Marc Toberoff said, “If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI, Inc. board of directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time.”
OpenAI board declined the proposal by Musk and Altman taking on X wrote, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want” referring to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion which has been subsequently devalued.
Musk retaliated to Altman by calling him a “Swindler” and later posting a “Scam Altman.” He stated, “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens.”
Musk departed from OpenAI, which he co-founded, in 2019 and launched his own AI firm, xAI. Since then, he has clashed with Altman over the company’s direction and took legal action against OpenAI regarding its restructuring plans last year, later withdrew the lawsuit, and then refiled it.
The attempt to purchase the AI platform by Musk comes at a time when OpenAI aspires to get a $40 billion fundin by SoftBank which would value the company at $300 billion.
A consortium of investors, led by Musk, had made an unsolicited bid of $97.4 billion to purchase the non-profit overseeing OpenAI. The Tesla chief framed the offer as an effort to restore the organisation to its original mission of being an “open-source, safety-focused force for good”.
Musk, the world’s richest man, left OpenAI in 2019 and started his own AI company, xAI. He has since tussled with Altman over the direction of the company: he sued OpenAI over the company’s restructuring plans last year, dropped the suit, then refiled it.
