On February 10, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the company that created ChatGPT) said in an interview with Bloomberg that the company is “not for sale,” rejecting Elon Musk’s offer of $97.4 billion.
The conflict between these technology giants began in 2015, when Elon Musk and Sam Altman, among other investors, injected capital into the project that resulted in ChatGPT. In 2018, Musk left the board of directors of OpenAI and the company cited conflicts of interest with Tesla, which was ceasing to be an electric car company to begin venturing into the field of artificial intelligence development, in addition to denouncing Musk's intentions to become a majority owner of the company's shares.
Open AI It is a non-profit organization, as described on its official website, and it also clarifies that the work it does is to “advance artificial intelligence in the way that best benefits humanity, since our studies are free of monetary interest, we can focus on a positive impact on humanity.”
In 2023, Elon launched his response to OpenAI, called xAI, and with it the Gork chatbot that the tycoon himself described as “anti-woke.” With this action, the rivalry that began years ago was consolidated in projects that competed for the same space and put Sam Altman back in Musk’s sights.
Worse yet, President Donald Trump announced a $500 billion investment in an American AI infrastructure, and Sam Altman’s OpenAI, not Musk’s xIA, will be involved in the project. OpenAI announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) the collaboration with the US government in which Musk commented that they do not actually have the money to carry out such a plan.
Announcing The Stargate Project
The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will secure…
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 21, 2025
Elon Musk's offer is both intimidating and a sign of his childish character. How can we forget when he publicly offered 1 billion dollars to Wikipedia to change its name to Dickipedia? The offer to buy publicly announces that he is the richest human on the planet, and if he wants, he can buy anything. It also gives us a glimpse of the childish and fragile personality of a man who desperately seeks to be the center of attention and throws tantrums when told that his money is not enough to get what he wants.
Let's be clear, Musk is interested in eliminating his competition and this includes lawsuits and many other "crazy things" as Altman explains in his interview with Bloomberg, but this is a personal problem.
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