Sam Altman on Tuesday said Elon Musk's “anxiety” would escalate the verbal ugly war between rival tech billionaires, placing a hostile $97.4 billion bid to control the open He said it was a factor in the decision.
Altman reiterated that Openai is “for sale” after an unsolicited offer from a group led by Musk. He is currently trying to block startups into commercial organizations as part of a widespread federal antitrust law against ChatGpt makers. Major investors Microsoft and Altman himself.
“Perhaps his life is from an uncertainty position,” Altman said. Interview with Bloomberg At the famous Paris AI Summit. “I feel a man. I don't think he's a happy person.”
Altman and Musk co-founded Openai as a nonprofit in 2015, but fell due to differences in opinion about its long-term direction.
Musk then founded Xai. It competes directly with Openai in the race to develop technology.
The Openai boss denounced Musk “probably just trying to slow us down” with his latest tactics.
“He's clearly a competitor,” Altman added. “I hope he competes by building a better product, but I think there were a lot of tactics, a lot of lot of lawsuits, all sorts of other crazy stuff.”
Musk's lawyer Mark Toberov announced a shock offer on Monday, saying the world's wealthiest men include Joe Lonsdale's 8VC, Valoire Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atlays Management and Vee Capital. He said he has secured support from an array of well-known investors, including venture companies. Endeavor CEO of Ari Emanuel.
In a statement, Musk said it was “time for Openai to return to its open source, safety-focused power.”
Within minutes of the offer first surfaced, Altman publicly refused it while taking the shot at the price of $44 billion that Musk paid for Buy X, previously known as Twitter.
“Thank you, but I'll buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if necessary.” Altman wrote in X.
Musk replied by calling Altman a “con man.”
The jab is nothing new to Altman and Musk.
When Altman announced a $500 billion “Stargate” AI infrastructure project with President Trump last month, Musk became a “good authority” that Altman and his partner “doesn't have any real money.” He publicly claimed that he had
“You're wrong, as you certainly know,” Altman said at the time. “Want to visit the first site already in progress? This is great for the country. I understand that great for this country is not always the best for your company, but I hope you will mostly put in the new role [America] beginning. “
The acquisition offer further complicates the future of Openai, which has pledged to major investors to be restructured within the next two years.
Openai aims to rebuild as a public benefits company.
The startup says there will still be a nonprofit that currently oversees operations, but that is no longer under control.
At the same time, Openai reportedly has $40 billion in funding from SoftBank as part of a round that values the startup at $300 billion.
Musk's lawyer Toberov said in a statement that the nonprofit “must be compensated quite a bit for what leadership is robbing it: control the most transformative technology of our time.”
By offering $97.4 billion to Openai's assets, Musk may have set a floor price for restructuring that is much higher than Altman and his allies wanted.
Musk and his partner say they are ready to match every offer.
If a transaction occurs, mask Xai may merge with Openai.
Even outside of Openai, the buyback bills generated a significant amount of skepticism.
“We believe this bid is uncompetitive, but we believe it is intended to slow the open capital raise process, which is a bid despite a valuation likely close to $300 billion. Because you need to consider this. To your clients.
