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Elon Musk is on his mission to acquire OpenAI. His recent $97.4 billion bid to acquire this AI technology company has surprised all the tech enthusiasts. Therefore, the immediate flourish of discussions about his motives is normal. Musk generally doesn’t hesitate to place a bid whenever he decides to acquire something, but the complex evolving dynamics between him and the OpenAI authorities have raised questions about his intentions behind this offer.
In this increasing AI competition, it’s hardly possible that one hasn’t ever heard of ChatGPT and its developer, OpenAI. However, probably a few of them know that Elon Musk was once in the founding bodies of the company. In 2015, OpenAI was founded by Elon Musk, the present OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, and other tech luminaries.
The primary aim of them behind establishing the organization was to develop artificial intelligence that would benefit humanity. In the beginning, this organization was established as a non-profit, which emphasizes transparency and collaboration in AI research. In the initial days, Musk was integrally related to the vision and the funding of this non-profit organization, but things soon took a different turn.
By 2018, things had changed drastically among the co-founders, and differences in strategy and direction emerged. At that time, Musk was concerned about OpenAI’s future in the increasing competition with rivals like Google. He even proposed to take control of the organization. Anyway, disputes started as his proposal was declined by Altman and other co-founders. As a result, Musk resigned from the board.
Soon after Musk's departure, the other co-founders also shifted from the notion of the non-profit organization, and OpenAI transformed into a profit model in 2019. This shift has attracted significant investments for the company, including its partnership with Microsoft. However, Musk was unhappy with this move and criticized the deviation of OpenAI from its original mission.
That wasn’t the end. Musk didn’t stop there. He took legal action against OpenAI, accusing the organization of having strayed from its foundational principles. Of course, OpenAI didn’t gobble things without any protest. They released a statement saying Musk was once supporting this notion of a profitable model and even proposed to merge OpenAI with Tesla. This legal conflict has further complicated things between these two parties.
To take this rivalry to the next level, Musk has proposed a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI. This seems like Musk is on his mission to get back what was his and also to set the organization to its former model, but the current CEO of the company, Sam Altman, has dismissed the offer and the speculations, saying this is Musk’s strategy to hinder OpenAI's progress. He straightforwardly mentioned that OpenAI is not for sale, and the company wants to focus on advancing its work without external interference.
At this point, where the person who placed the bid mentioned nothing, it is tough to say what could be the reasons behind the offer. However, there are a few things that would probably help tech enthusiasts understand the potential movies:
Return to the Original Mission: Since his departure, Musk has consistently stated his concerns about OpenAI shifting from its founding principles. In that case, acquiring the organization could allow him to redirect its focus toward the initial motives.
Reduce Competition: Musk has stepped into the growing competitive era with his own AI venture, xAI. This is a direct competition to OpenAI. Therefore, him gaining control of the most potent rival will result in unbounded growth.
Influence Over AI's Future: The third reason might involve his concern about the risks that are growing with the advancement of AI technologies. So, acquiring OpenAI would have provided him with the chance to show the world how to use AI technologies in a beneficial way.
Well, these are all speculations that may or may not be the reason behind this sudden bid. Though he always advocates OpenAI should return to its core mission of being an open-source and non-profit organization, what he will do if he gets the control is still unclear.
