Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again pressured OpenAI, proposing to acquire control of the company for $97.4 billion. In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly replied on the social media platform X, stating, "No, thank you." His humorous response mentioned that if Musk is willing, they could buy Twitter for $9.74 billion instead.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk's acquisition proposal was initiated by his AI startup xAI and received support from several investment firms, including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, and Atreides Management. The intention behind this acquisition is to bring OpenAI back to its original vision, emphasizing that AI technology should benefit humanity.
As a co-founder of OpenAI, Musk invested a significant amount of money and effort into its development, but over time, conflicts between the two parties became apparent. In 2017, Musk attempted to merge OpenAI with Tesla but was unsuccessful and subsequently left. In 2019, Microsoft injected $1 billion into OpenAI, accelerating its commercialization process, which raised concerns for Musk.
In addition to the recent acquisition proposal, Musk also has his own initiatives in the AI field. In 2023, he founded xAI and launched a model called Grok-1, which surpasses OpenAI's GPT-3.5, within just a few months. Although xAI has received considerable funding support, it still falls short compared to OpenAI's financial scale.
Currently, under Altman's leadership, OpenAI is gradually transforming into a for-profit company. Altman believes that commercialization can bring more research and development funding to the company, thereby accelerating technological advancement. This is in stark contrast to Musk's original intentions, leading Altman to reject the acquisition proposal.
Key Points:
🌟 Musk proposed acquiring OpenAI for $97.4 billion but was rejected by CEO Altman.
🤝 Musk hopes to return OpenAI to its original purpose, emphasizing that technology should benefit humanity.
📈 OpenAI is transitioning into a for-profit company, and Altman believes commercialization is key to driving technological development.
