Elon Musk wants control of the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence company, and he is willing to spend billions to get it. On February 10, the billionaire led a $97.4 billion consortium bid to buy the non-profit entity that oversees OpenAI. The response from CEO Sam Altman was immediate and completely devoid of corporate pleasantries. Instead of a formal rejection letter, Altman shut the door on social media with a deeply sarcastic counter-proposal aimed directly at his former business partner’s pride.
The $97 Billion Power Play for Control
The takeover attempt was carefully structured to target the very foundation of the artificial intelligence giant. Musk assembled a consortium of investors including xAI, Baron Capital Group, and Valor Management to make the unsolicited offer. They did not try to buy the for-profit division directly. Instead, they aimed their $97.4 billion bid squarely at the non-profit board that maintains ultimate authority over the company’s technology and commercial decisions.
This structural loophole is exactly what makes the situation so unique. By acquiring the non-profit entity, Musk’s group could theoretically prevent its conversion into a fully for-profit corporation. In a press release announcing the move, Musk stated that it was time for the company to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. He promised his consortium would make sure that happened.
The financial realities of the bid tell a slightly different story about market dominance. Following its October 2024 funding round, the company was valued at approximately $157 billion. Offering $97.4 billion is a severe undercutting of that established market value, which industry analysts and news outlets noted immediately as a potential hurdle for any serious acquisition attempt.
| Entity | Latest Valuation Estimate |
|---|---|
| OpenAI (October 2024 Round) | $157 Billion |
| Musk Consortium Bid (February 2025) | $97.4 Billion |
| X / Twitter (Fidelity Report 2024) | Under $10 Billion |
The rejection came fast. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor officially confirmed the board had unanimously rejected the bid. During an interview at an AI summit in Paris, Altman made it clear that the organization simply is not for sale.
A Brutal Counter Offer on Social Media
Corporate acquisitions are usually handled behind closed doors with teams of lawyers drafting polite letters. Altman chose a different route. Taking to X, the platform owned by Musk, Altman posted a mocking $9.74 billion counter-bid to buy the social network back.
“No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
The specific dollar amount was no accident. It is exactly ten percent of the consortium’s offer, and it strikes at a sore spot for the Tesla CEO. Since purchasing the social network for $44 billion, the platform’s valuation was marked down to under $10 billion by Fidelity in a recent monthly fund valuation report. Financial publications quickly picked up on the precision of the insult.
Musk replied to the counter-offer with a single word: “Swindler.”
The public sparring highlights how personal this rivalry has become. These two executives do not just disagree on product roadmaps or corporate governance. They actively despise each other, and they are using their vast wealth to wage a very public war over who gets to dictate the future of computing.
Years of Bad Blood in Silicon Valley
To understand the current tension, you have to look back at how this relationship fractured. In December 2015, Musk and Altman stood together as co-founders. They created the organization as a non-profit specifically to serve as a check on Google’s AI dominance. Musk believed the search giant was developing artificial intelligence recklessly, and he wanted an open-source alternative to balance the scales.
Things fell apart quickly. By early 2018, Musk felt the project was falling too far behind Google. He proposed taking absolute control of the organization or merging it with Tesla to accelerate development. The board pushed back against this demand. That refusal led to Musk’s failed attempt to take control and his subsequent departure from the board entirely.
The timeline of their deteriorating relationship shows a steady escalation:
- Before leaving in 2018, Musk contributed $44.8 million to the project.
- In 2019, the company created a capped-profit subsidiary to attract outside capital.
- Microsoft invested billions, shifting the focus toward commercial enterprise products.
- In March 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract regarding the non-profit mission.
That 2024 lawsuit was abruptly dropped in June, but legal coverage from the time showed Musk’s legal team was deeply concerned about the transition. His attorneys had even petitioned the California Attorney General to ensure any for-profit conversion provided fair market value to the original charity.
Government Influence and Future AI Plans
This takeover attempt arrives at a complex time for both men. Musk is no longer just a private citizen running car and rocket companies. He now leads the Department of Government Efficiency, giving him sweeping authority over federal spending. Lawmakers have already raised concerns about an unelected shadow government consolidating power, and Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to curb his influence over the Treasury Department.
Meanwhile, Altman is pushing forward with aggressive expansion plans. His company is heavily involved in Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure project supported by the Trump administration. This initiative aims to secure American dominance in global computing capabilities by building unprecedented data centers across the country.
The stakes go far beyond a simple business rivalry. The winner of this feud will likely dictate the ethical boundaries, security protocols, and commercial rollout of tools that will reshape the global economy. As broadcasters tracking the deal have pointed out, letting one man control multiple crucial technology vectors creates entirely new regulatory headaches.
These government ties complicate any future acquisition attempts:
- Federal regulators would likely heavily scrutinize Musk owning another major communications or tech platform.
- The California Attorney General is already monitoring the non-profit’s corporate restructuring.
- Both companies are vying for lucrative federal contracts to build physical infrastructure.
The rejection of the $97.4 billion offer is almost certainly not the end of this story. Musk rarely abandons a target simply because his first approach was denied, and his legal resources are virtually limitless. The public insults traded this week have cemented a permanent hostility between two of the most powerful executives in the world. As the industry races to build smarter models and larger data centers, the ongoing clash for the soul of #OpenAI will undoubtedly remain the most consequential and chaotic #TechFeud of the decade.
