Musk's acquisition move is a provocation for OpenAI.

Author: Sun Xiaocheng, AI Wildfire

Image source: Generated by Wujie AI

According to The Wall Street Journal, an investor consortium led by Elon Musk plans to acquire OpenAI for $97.4 billion. Musk's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, stated that the acquisition offer has been submitted to the OpenAI board and claimed, "It is time to return OpenAI to its original open-source, safety-first philosophy."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly responded on social media platform X (formerly Twitter): "No, thank you. But if you want, we can spend $9.74 billion to buy Twitter." Musk commented on Altman's post, calling him a "fraud," and shared an old video accusing him of being a "scam artist."

It is reported that this acquisition is supported by Musk's AI company xAI, with investors including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, 8VC, and others. Ari Emanuel, CEO of Hollywood talent agency Endeavor, also supported the deal through his investment fund. Toberoff stated that if the deal goes through, xAI may merge with OpenAI to consolidate resources and challenge the existing AI market landscape.

This acquisition demonstrates Musk's continued desire to bring OpenAI under his control, but to outsiders, it still seems "absurd." After all, purely from a monetary perspective, OpenAI's valuation has soared to $300 billion due to SoftBank's impending $40 billion investment, while Musk's offer is only a third of that.

Altman's sarcastic response and Musk's accusations have turned this seemingly hopeless acquisition into a "war of words." The New York Times even described Musk's acquisition proposal as his "latest and possibly most reckless attack" on OpenAI.

However, Musk's acquisition move is not without strategy.

It is well known that Musk and Altman have a long-standing feud. As one of the founders of OpenAI, Musk once attempted to merge OpenAI with Tesla and take on the role of CEO. However, in the power struggle for control of OpenAI, Altman ultimately secured the CEO position, and Musk left the board in 2018.

As OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022 and quickly commercialized it, the ideological divide between the two has gradually widened. Musk has publicly criticized OpenAI multiple times for deviating from its original open-source philosophy.

Faced with OpenAI's increasingly clear profit-oriented transformation, Musk naturally would not "sit idly by." He has filed multiple lawsuits, accusing OpenAI of "monopolistic behavior" and "violating its non-profit mission."

But these have not stopped OpenAI's progress on the path to commercialization. By the end of 2024, OpenAI published an article stating that the board is evaluating its corporate structure and will continue to maintain a dual status of non-profit and for-profit organizations. The existing for-profit organization will transition to a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), and the non-profit organization will hold significant equity in the existing for-profit organization in the form of PBC stock, with the non-profit organization hiring a leadership team and staff to engage in charitable activities in healthcare, education, and science.

This also means that OpenAI's profit-oriented transformation is nearing completion, and the non-profit organization will be spun off. Musk's side believes that OpenAI may underestimate its value when spinning off the non-profit entity.

In January 2025, Musk's lawyer sent letters to the attorneys general of California and Delaware, requesting a public bidding process for OpenAI to ensure that the non-profit organization receives fair compensation when divesting its assets.

Now, Musk's acquisition move seems aimed at the soon-to-be-divested non-profit organization. Axios finance editor Dan Primack pointed out that Musk is not looking to acquire the non-profit organization itself but rather the foundational for-profit assets that Altman must purchase to restructure the company. Musk's acquisition move is a provocation for OpenAI, while also setting a price that may lead Altman to pay more than he might be willing to when divesting the non-profit organization.

According to experts cited by foreign media, "The non-profit organization should use the money to do any good. If OpenAI prefers to sell it to someone else for less money, it raises the issue of protecting the interests of the non-profit organization's beneficiaries." This indicates that Musk's acquisition move will indeed have an impact on OpenAI. If OpenAI refuses the acquisition, it may need to prove that its board's decision aligns with the "interests of the charitable organization's beneficiaries," or it may face stricter regulatory scrutiny.

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