Under one condition

Musk could withdraw offer for OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) and Elon Musk are at loggerheads.(Bild: APA/AFP or licensors)

The confusion surrounding a possible takeover of OpenAI by Elon Musk is entering a new round. The billionaire is prepared to withdraw his offer if the ChatGPT developer retains its current structure, according to a letter from his lawyers to a US court dated Wednesday.

Musk sued OpenAI and its head Sam Altman a year ago to prevent the commercialization of AI development. A few days ago, he announced a 97.4 billion dollar takeover bid for similar reasons. According to insiders, however, this has not yet been officially received by OpenAI's board of directors.

Musk's lawyer emphasized that he had emailed a "four-page detailed letter of intent" to the law firm representing OpenAI. The firm was initially unavailable for comment. Altman had previously described Musk's offer on the sidelines of the AI summit in Paris as ridiculous. "This is yet another one of his attempts to get in our way. The company is not for sale."

OpenAI in the midst of transformation
OpenAI is in the midst of a transformation. Until now, a non-profit organization has controlled the for-profit subsidiary that markets ChatGPT. Its influence is to be reduced in order to make OpenAI more attractive to investors. This is the only way to raise sufficient funds for the further development of artificial intelligence.

Musk has sharply criticized this on several occasions. He wants the organization he co-founded to stick to its original mission of developing a "safe Artificial General Intelligence" as a non-profit research and development organization. This "superintelligence" is intended to serve humanity.