Why Musk Really Wants OpenAI

Donald Trump’s government representative is going on a shopping spree for all successful AI competitors. With political power behind him, Musk wants to gain dominance in the AI field as well.

From its launch in 2015, the idea behind OpenAI was to make AI tools accessible for everyone. The company was to remain a nonprofit. Because of this, investors who were willing to pay gathered at the very start to implement this idea. One of these investors was a man named Elon Musk.

The company’s shift to one that generates profits is currently the main motivation of CEO Sam Altman. And this doesn’t please Mr. Musk. In the past, this not only led to resentment, but also to a U.S. court. As the wheels of justice grind too slowly for car and spaceship manufacturer Musk, the neo-government representative took the initiative on Monday. Musk led a group of investors who want to purchase the nonprofit organization OpenAI for almost $100 billion*.

OpenAI should remain open source and concentrate on security, Musk explains. Why isn’t he concerned about profit with this company in particular? With X-AI, Musk has his own AI company that could assert itself on the market. Naturally his bruised ego is still painful: Although he was one of the first to jump on board with OpenAI, he left the company in 2019, preferring to work on his social media platform X and other companies.

This didn’t, however, diminish the success of the AI company. Just a few weeks ago, Altman became one of the leading minds behind Donald Trump’s Stargate project, the new AI offensive for the U.S. Musk was angry once more and, not even 24 hours later, criticized everyone involved, especially Altman.

Elon Musk is a child to whom Trump has given too much power. Whomever or whatever doesn’t suit him is rationalized away or bought. Musk also wants to show dominance, even among tech billionaires. Can Altman stand up against this new Musk, who not only has infinite resources, but now also political power? We will see. Children are known to be sore losers.

*Editor’s Note: On Feb. 14, Musk’s $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI was formally rejected by its board of directors.