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Elon Musk Wants a Large Part of OpenAI to be Sold by Auction

Through his lawyer, Elon Musk requests that a large part of OpenAI be sold to the public. He is doing this ‘in the public interest’, although that interest lies mainly with Musk.

In his request, the lawyer for the entrepreneur behind xAI, among others, argues that OpenAI must sell part of his company to put a fair value on its charitable assets, sources told Reuters. OpenAI describes Musk’s actions as a legal attack.

OpenAI said that independent financial advisors will determine the value of its charitable business units (which will remain non-profit). Today, OpenAI is worth $157 billion since raising $6.6 billion in October last year.

From co-founder
Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, along with Sam Altman and many others, when it was founded as a non-profit company. In 2018, he left the company after a failed attempt to take complete control of the company.

In the years that followed, the company also developed a commercial branch. In recent months, the company has been working on a restructuring that will allow it to function more as a commercial company and thus attract capital more efficiently. A small part that focuses on, among other things, hiring staff and charity initiatives will remain under the non-profit.

To competitor
Musk has since founded his company, xAI, and has been trying to thwart OpenAI for some time. For example, almost two years ago, together with other experts and prominent figures, he advocated a moratorium on the development of AI when it became clear that OpenAI was much further ahead than the rest of the market. 

In August of last year, he went to court against the commercialization of OpenAI. That was after a similar complaint, which was later withdrawn, that also concerned the commercial course of the company. Musk currently owns no stake in OpenAI.

The request to sell part of OpenAI also fits into that category. According to Reuters, Musk’s lawyer argues that such a sale by auction is in the public interest. In practice, such a sale would give Musk, or a friendly investor, the opportunity to reclaim a piece of the power at OpenAI now that the company is the world’s leading AI developer.

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