Technology — Why Musk may want to control OpenAI

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View Online Technology Technology The Big Story  Why Musk may want to control OpenAI Elon Musk's bid to take control of OpenAI is fanning the flames on a long-time feud with CEO Sam Altman and complicating the path forward for the ChatGPT maker. © Alex Brandon, Associated Press Whether Musk has a real desire to run OpenAI or get ahead of a competitor, observers agree the bid is likely to slow down the artificial intelligence (AI) firm's plans to change its corporate structure.      Musk, an original co-founder of OpenAI, has taken great issue with the company's for-profit ambitions, so his bid to throw a wrench in their plans was not a surprise for some in the industry.     "The only way to stop OpenAI is [by] making their life, their fundraising more complicated," said Lutz Finger, the founder of generative AI eCommerce company R2Decide.   A consortium of investors led by Musk submitted a $97.4 billion bid to buy the assets of the nonprofit that controls OpenAI earlier this week. Altman quickly pushed back, stating OpenAI is "not for sale."      OpenAI's board of directors unanimously rejected Musk's bid, OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor said in a post on X on Friday afternoon.   "OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk's latest attempt to disrupt his competition," Taylor said. "Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity."   Musk has not explicitly stated his intentions behind going after OpenAI but in a statement shared with The Hill said it is "time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety focused force for good it once was."     While Musk says he wants OpenAI to focus on safety and open-source AI models, various technology observers suggested there is more to the picture.    The bid's timing comes just days after reports circulated that SoftBank was close to finalizing a $40 billion deal with OpenAI that would bring the ChatGPT maker to a $300 billion valuation, nearly double its current value.   By submitting an unsolicited bid for the nonprofit arm of OpenAI, Musk is informally setting a floor value that may be far higher than the valuation of the nonprofit's subsidiaries.      "Now, when they [OpenAI] want to split up the for-profit and nonprofit, the state will come and ask, how much is the nonprofit worth and how much is the other profit worth?" Finger explained. "And by putting up this evaluation, Musk makes investing in OpenAI expensive."     Read more in a full report at TheHill.com this weekend. Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Crypto Corner  Trump signals a reset for crypto, industry leaders say © Mark Humphrey, Associated Press The Hill's Miranda Nazzaro moderated a panel on emerging tech, including crypto and artificial intelligence (AI), under the Trump administration at this week's State of the Net Conference.   In today's issue, Miranda shares how industry insiders are viewing the new administration and what they're looking forward to most: The first three weeks of President Trump's second term have stoked a lot of excitement for the crypto industry—and a growing wish list.   Kristin Smith, the CEO of Blockchain Association, argued many of Trump's actions since returning to office have been about getting to "a neutral position" after several years of general hostility in Washington.   "We're really trying to get back to almost a neutral position, while simultaneously trying to gear up to put in an appropriate regulatory framework because we do need new regulation and we do need new legislation," she said.    "Step one is sort of undoing that damage and I think the fact that we have a crypto and AI czar at the White House is mind-blowing to me," she added.    "It's just been three weeks and we've already seen such a shift toward a more predictable regulatory landscape, which is what this industry has been begging for," added John Mitchell, the senior manager of governmental affairs at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).     What's next: President of the GliaNet Alliance Richard Whitt said Silicon Valley is seeing the world of crypto policy as a "blank slate."     Their wish list: Smith pointed to the need for an appropriate federal regulator for stablecoins, a federal market regulator and increased clarity over what falls into the "commodity versus security budget." Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: Just 32 percent in US trust AI: Study Only about a third of Americans trust artificial intelligence (AI), according to new data from the Edelman Trust Barometer.   Just 32 percent of people in the U.S. said they trust the rapidly developing technology, according to the annual global survey's "Insights for the Technology Sector.” American views on AI stand in sharp contrast to those of their Chinese counterparts, 72 percent of whom said they trust AI. …  Full Story Mexico threatens to sue Google over Gulf of Mexico name change Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened to sue Google Thursday over its decision to update its maps platform to reflect President Trump's decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."  Sheinbaum argued at her daily press conference that Google is incorrect in renaming the entire body of water as the Gulf of America because Trump's executive order only applies to the U.S. continental shelf.  …  Full Story TikTok returns to Apple, Google app stores amid Trump ban delay TikTok returned to the Apple and Google app stores Thursday evening after President Trump delayed the ban on the video-sharing app last month.  The Chinese-owned app was removed from the stores after it briefly shut down in the U.S. to abide by a law that required TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest from the platform or face a Jan. 19 ban. TikTok restored service hours later, but it did not return to the app stores …  Full Story The Refresh  News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: Instagram is testing out a new dislike button for comments (TechCrunch)  Banks have sold off another $4.74 billion in loans used to finance Elon Musk's X purcahse (Reuters) In Other News  Branch out with other reads on The Hill: 14 states sue Musk and Trump, calling billionaire's role unconstitutional Fourteen states sued Elon Musk, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and President Trump on Thursday, arguing that the tech billionaire's sweeping efforts to cut government spending are unconstitutional.  The coalition of states, led by New Mexico, alleges that Musk’s expansive role as the head of DOGE violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution given that he has not been confirmed by the Senate.  … Full Story What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: Justice Department moves to dismiss Eric Adams case The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally asked a federal district court to drop its corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) … Read more VA cutting 1,000 employees The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has dismissed more than 1,000 new employees as part of a wave of federal government layoffs that began this … Read more What Others are Reading  Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill: NASA's asteroid mission to Apophis: Key for Earth's defense Trump will regret embracing AI   You're all caught up. See you next week!  Check out The Hill's Technology page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 1998 - 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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