Elon Musk and investors offering $97.4 billion for control of OpenAI, WSJ reports.

Elon Musk is leading a group of investors in offering to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The bid is for the nonprofit that oversees the artificial intelligence startup, the Journal reported, adding that Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted the offer on Monday. The WSJ cited a statement from Musk provided by Toberoff, saying “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”

In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk then replied to the OpenAI chief on X calling him a “swindler,” and in a reply to a different user, called him “Scam Altman.”

OpenAI has since emerged as a giant in generative AI, launching ChatGPT in 2022 and setting off a wave of investment in new tools and infrastructure for next-generation AI products and services. SoftBank is close to finalizing a $40 billion investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, sources told CNBC’s David Faber last week.

Musk now has a competitor in the AI market, a startup called xAI, and is suing OpenAI, accusing it of antitrust violations and to try and keep it from converting into a for-profit corporation. Meanwhile, OpenAI partnered with SoftBank and Oracle in a project announced by Trump right after his inauguration called Stargate, which calls on the companies to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the U.S.

Source: CNBC