Elon Musk Tries to Buy OpenAI for $97.4 Billion, Altman Offers to Buy Twitter Instead

A group of investors led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made a staggering $97.4 billion bid to acquire the assets of OpenAI, The New York Times reported. The consortium reportedly includes Musk’s AI startup xAI, investment firm Vy Capital, Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel, and several other unnamed investors.

In a sharp response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X, dismissing the offer with a pointed remark: "No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."

This move marks Musk’s latest challenge to OpenAI, an organization he co-founded in 2015 but left before its rise to prominence. The offer comes amid escalating tensions between Musk and Altman, whose feud has intensified over the direction and commercialization of artificial intelligence.

According to The New York Times, OpenAI has not yet officially received Musk’s bid, which could potentially disrupt the company’s ongoing efforts to finalize a $40 billion funding deal. This new funding round, led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, is expected to value OpenAI at around $300 billion—placing it among the world’s most valuable private companies alongside Musk’s SpaceX and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

The rivalry between Musk and Altman has been simmering for some time. Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission in favor of profit-driven motives. A U.S. federal judge recently ruled that portions of Musk’s lawsuit might proceed to trial, requiring the Tesla CEO to testify in court, according to Al Jazeera.

Adding to the friction, former U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced Stargate, a joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aimed at investing $500 billion in AI infrastructure. Musk criticized the initiative, claiming, "They don't actually have the money." Altman fired back, labeling Musk "wrong" and inviting him to visit an AI development site in Texas. Altman praised the initiative as "great for the country" and urged Musk to prioritize national interests in his "new role."

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