---
title: "Elon Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI, WSJ reports"
description: "A consortium of investors led by billionaire Elon Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "MUSK VS AI"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-11-elon-musk-led-group-makes-97-4-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai-wsj-reports/"
published: "2025-02-11T04:15:15"
updated: "2025-02-10T23:14:52"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 222
---

# Elon Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI, WSJ reports

> A consortium of investors led by billionaire Elon Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

By Reuters · Published 11 February 2025, 06:15 SAST · Updated 11 February 2025, 01:14 SAST

## Key points
- In a dramatic twist worthy of a tech soap opera, Elon Musk has thrown down the gauntlet with a bid to reclaim OpenAI, insisting it must revert to its altruistic roots, while the company’s current trajectory has him feeling like a jilted co-founder watching his ex thrive in a profit-driven paradise.
- Elon Musk intensifies his rivalry with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by submitting a bid to the board, aiming to reshape the company’s direction.
- Musk advocates for a return to OpenAI's original open-source and safety-focused mission, promising to ensure its fulfillment.
- The bid, supported by Musk's AI venture xAI, could lead to a merger with OpenAI, which is transitioning to a for-profit model.
- Musk previously co-founded OpenAI but departed before its rapid growth, later suing the company over its profit-driven shift away from its initial humanitarian goals.

## Content

The offer intensifies a longstanding battle between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk over the future of the startup at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology.

Musk's attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted the bid to OpenAI's board on Monday, according to the report.

"It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was," the WSJ cited Musk as saying in a statement provided by Toberoff. "We will make sure that happens."

OpenAI, Musk, Toberoff and OpenAI-backer Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The bid is being backed by Musk's AI company xAI, which could merge with OpenAI following a deal, the WSJ reported.

Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015, but left before the company took off. He later founded the competing AI startup xAI in 2023.

OpenAI is now trying to transition into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, which it says is required to secure the capital needed for developing the best artificial intelligence models.

Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, saying that OpenAI’s founders originally approached him to fund a nonprofit focused on developing AI to benefit humanity, but that it was now focused on making money.

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Anil D'Silva)