Elon Musk has been extremely busy since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. His position as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has kept him in the spotlight as questions arise about the reach of his newfound power.
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DOGE has been tasked with identifying and eliminating what it determines to be government waste, but the scope of its power has come into question.
Recently, its operatives attempted to gain access to highly sensitive federal government employee information. It has also attempted to shut down entire bureaus and deployed a buyout program to entice employees to resign from their positions, which some experts have claimed is illegal.
Lawsuits have already blocked the White House task force from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems and employee data at certain government agencies.
Despite being preoccupied in Washington D.C., Musk recently proved that he hasn’t forgotten about his private sector interests, making a major announcement that many people likely weren’t expecting.
Musk’s resume includes many current titles, including CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX and owner of X. But he recently revealed that his sights are set on owning something else.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s longstanding feud just took an important turn, as indicated by Musk’s recent announcement, (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
It’s open season on AI rivals for Elon Musk
This week began with an announcement from Musk that quickly sent the tech sector into a frenzy: a group that he is leading had submitted a $97.4 billion bid to purchase ChatGPT maker, OpenAI, specifically its for-profit assets.
Those who follow the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) market know that Musk and Altman have been engaged in a feud for years. In fact, their rivalry dates back years to Musk’s abrupt exit from Altman’s startup in 2018, for which he cited conflicts of interest with Tesla.
Related: Elon Musk, Sam Altman brawl over major AI deal
“Musk proposed running OpenAI himself in 2018. Altman and other board members rejected this proposal, causing Musk to leave the organization entirely,” TheStreet reports.
Experts have speculated that since then, Musk has wanted control of OpenAI, particularly as the research lab has come to dominate the AI market with its widespread success with AI models such as ChatGPT.
He hasn’t shied away from criticizing it, calling the decision to transition OpenAI from a non-profit to a for-profit structure illegal.
The recent offer that Musk’s group submitted may seem high to some, but it clearly has not been enough to tempt Altman. He quickly rejected Musk’s offer and took the opportunity to call out his rival’s lack of success after purchasing X, posting to social media:
no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025
The decision to reject Musk’s offer to acquire OpenAI doesn’t surprise Vaibhav Ingolé, a product manager at Medsix, who expects to see big things from OpenAI and sees the startup as being undervalued, even as Japanese conglomerate SoftBank prepares to finalize a $40 million investment at a $260 billion valuation.
Ingolé attributes his bullish take on OpenAI to its potential to reach artificial general intelligence (AGI) before rivals.
“Once it reaches AGI, I think it could become a trillion-dollar company,” he states. “I see it as the only company in the field that can reach it. They have the best talent, more so than Google (GOOGL) or Anthropic.”
Robert Polding, Assistant Vice Dean of Computing and Data Science, also sees Musk’s offer as a clear intimidation tactic.
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Polding spoke to TheStreet about the potential motives driving Musk to make the offer, stating that he sees the feud between the two tech CEOs as the cause of it all. He adds, though, that Musk likely also wants to integrate OpenAI’s tech into the models his team at xAI is building.
“He’s likely more ambitious than Grok currently allows for,” speculates Polding, highlighting potential limitations of the AI model that Musk is developing at xAI.
Deal or no deal, Musk is testing Altman and OpenAI
Altman and his team didn’t spend much time considering the deal, as it was immediately rejected. This is further supported by the fact that he recently told Axios that OpenAI is not for sale.
Related: Elon Musk just got the best Christmas gift he could ask for
With the backing that OpenAI is receiving from SoftBank, Altman doesn’t have much reason to sell the company, particularly if it is as close to achieving AGI as Ingolé and other experts believe. But all the same, it’s clear that Musk’s decision to attempt to buy the company has pushed OpenAI toward a pivotal moment.
Songyee Yoon, founder and managing partner of Principal Venture Partners, recently addressed this, providing context on the broader implications of Musk’s offer, regardless of any response from Altman.
“A single question must guide the decision to accept or reject: Will this strengthen or undermine that purpose? This represents more than a business decision—it is a test of OpenAI’s resolve to uphold its founding ideals and if the governance is set to uphold that critical mission.”
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