OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shot down an unsolicited offer by a group of investors led by Elon Musk on Monday to purchase the nonprofit that heads up OpenAI for $97.4 billion.
The offer is a significant reduction in OpenAI’s valuation. According to CNBC, SoftBank plans to invest $40 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of $260 billion. Altman posted his response to Musk, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” Altman wrote on X in an apparent response to the offer.
Musk responded minutes later, calling Altman a “swindler.” Musk owns X, which he purchased for $44 billion when it was known as Twitter in 2022.
Musk and Altman originally co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit company, but Musk separated himself from the AI firm over disagreements regarding how to move forward with the venture.
Altman and OpenAI have since teamed up with Microsoft (MSFT), which invested billions in the company, gaining access to its AI models while serving as its cloud computing provider.
Altman is currently seeking to turn OpenAI into a for-profit business, which Musk is suing to prevent. The case centers around Musk’s initial $45 million donation to fund the startup, which he claims was contingent on OpenAI remaining a nonprofit organization.
Corporate law experts say that OpenAI is required, by law, to receive fair market value for its assets. Musk’s lawyer in January asked California’s attorney general to ensure fair market value is paid, claiming that OpenAI and Microsoft have incentive to devalue the assets, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Musk’s $97.4 billion offer for the nonprofit, if genuine, could establish that at least one group of buyers believes the assets to be worth at least that much. However, legal experts say the unpredictable factors around the OpenAI’s future growth, outsized debt, unusual business structure, and pending litigation, could heavily skew its valuaton.
Musk also operates xAI, an OpenAI rival.
This isn’t the first time the duo has sparred in public. Musk previously claimed in a post on X that OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, which joined forces to build data centers across the US as part of their so-called Stargate Project, didn’t have the money, up to $500 billion, the companies said they would spend.