CEO Sam Altman Rejects Elon Musk's Offer To Buy OpenAI, Calls It 'Ridiculous'

A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Feb 10 it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI. It’s another attempt by the billionaire to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm. Musk's bid is likely to ramp up a longstanding feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the future of the ChatGPT maker. Altman on Monday posted on X: 'no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.'. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit, but left before the company took off. He went on to found the competing AI startup xAI in 2023. OpenAI is now trying to transition from a nonprofit into a for-profit entity. It says that restructure is required to raise the funds needed to develop the best AI models. Musk’s new offer is only his most recent attempt to throw a wrench in those plans. In August last year, Musk sued Altman and others, claiming they broke contract by putting profit ahead of the public good in the push to advance AI.