Under Trump's eyes The feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman continues. The Tesla and SpaceX boss is back on an old theme, reviving his interest in OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. Determined to regain control of the company which he had helped found together with Altman, Musk has put a stellar offer of $97,4 billion on the tableThe proposal was presented through a investor consortium led by his artificial intelligence company, XAI.
Behind this move there are names of weight, among which Equity Partners Value, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital e 8VC, the venture capital firm founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir. Also supporting the operation Ari Emanuel, entrepreneur and CEO of Endeavor. Musk's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said it presented the offer to OpenAI’s board on Monday and that the investor group is prepared to match or exceed any raise.
The answer of Sam altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, did not wait. With a sharp irony he struck a of Musk's worst deals of recent years, theacquisition of Twitter (time X): “No thanks, but we'll buy Twitter for $9,74 billion if you want“. A direct attack on disastrous management of the platform by Musk.
Altman, on the sidelines of the AI Action Summit underway in Paris, has responded in a more serious tone compared to his post on X regarding Musk's offer: “OpenAI is not for sale. He is a competitor who is unable to beat us on the market and is only trying to prove that, if he wanted, he could buy us, with total disregard for our mission, which is not for sale.”
Musk vs Altman: From Friendship to Rivalry
And to think that once upon a time the two AI gurus were allies. In 2015, Musk and Altman founded together OpenAI with the purpose of Developing a “Friendly” Artificial Intelligence for the benefit of humanity. But in the 2018 everything changed: Musk tried to to take control of the company, failing and definitively exiting the project. From that moment, the relationship between the two has transformed into a open warfare.
Musk's Plans and Altman's Refusal
Musk's offer comes at a crucial time for OpenAI, which is undergoing a profound transformation. Altman has begun the process of converting it into a for-profit corporation and is attracting huge funding. After several investment round, the announcement has arrived Stargate Joint Venture, supported by Trump and which includes OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, with a plan from 500 billion dollars for the development of artificial intelligence infrastructures.
Musk, on the other hand, has repeatedly criticized this commercial turn, accusing OpenAI of having betrayed its original mission. “It’s time for OpenAI to return to being the open source, security-focused force it was originally. We’re going to make that happen.”, he declared through his lawyer.
But Altman was not intimidated. With his ironic proposal of “buy Twitter”, reaffirmed its absolute control over the company, making it clear to Musk that it has no intention of giving up any ground.
Musk and the legal battle against OpenAI
Le Tensions between Musk and OpenAI are certainly nothing new. Already at the time of the explosion of Chat GPT, the billionaire had raised criticism and started a legal battle, accusing the company of having betrayed its non-profit mission and to be now an extension of Microsoft's interests, at the time its main investor (a role that will soon be scaled down, given that Softbank is ready to invest nearly $40 billion, surpassing Redmond's commitment).
La legal structure OpenAI’s operation is particularly complex: the nonprofit that controls it has enormous power relative to its real assets. With only $22 million in budget and two official employees, runs a company that recently hit a valuation of 300 billion dollars.
Musk hoped to exploit this discrepancy to turn the tables, but Altman got ahead of himself, shielding governance of the company with trusted allies and closing any possible opening for the Tesla billionaire to enter.
Musk vs Altman: What to Expect Next?
With OpenAI firmly in Altman’s hands and SoftBank funding on the way, Musk finds himself in a tricky position. His attempt to get back into the game appears to have stalled against his former partner’s determination.
But if there's one thing that Musk has demonstrated over the years, is that He doesn't give up easily. Yet another clash of the titans of artificial intelligence is far from over. And while the two billionaires continue to sling barbs at each other, one question remains: who will he be the first to fall from Trump's protective tower?
Meanwhile, i the first bad moods begin to creep in in the presidential administration. The White House staff is watching with growing concern theMusk's ever-expanding influence on government, raising doubts and perplexities about his role.
Last update 14,30am
