Since last year, Elon Musk of Tesla and OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, have been engaged in a public debate over the regulation and development of artificial intelligence. In the center of this heated controversy is the decision made in 2019 to shift OpenAI from a nonprofit model to one for profit. Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders, left the company after a struggle for control in 2018 and has since criticized OpenAI for becoming a highly commercialized entity since his departure. 

Then, the conflict escalated in recent months as a group of investors under Musk bid $97.4 billion to buy the assets of OpenAI and return it to being open-source, according to The New York Times. Open-source sites are platforms where users can access the code and contribute to it or use it to create their own codes. While these sites cost less to maintain, there are various risks concerning security that make large corporations prefer close-sourced. The offer was quickly rejected unanimously by the OpenAI board, and Altman even posted on his platform X, formally known as Twitter, “No thank you, but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Despite the ongoing conflict, Altman has also expressed the potential for OpenAI’s return to open-source in the future, although it is not the company’s first priority. The Business Insider states that OpenAI announced that it would release an open-source artificial intelligence model like ChatGPT due to the growth of many new models that are being developed for free public use. OpenAI has yet to provide any specific dates for the plan. Additionally, according to CNN, OpenAI is looking to restructure the company to increase returns for both investors and employees. 

This takeover bid is the most recent attempt from Musk to shake up the company and hinder OpenAI’s plans for development. In June of 2024, Musk sued OpenAI for departing from its initial project purpose of growing artificial intelligence to benefit humanity and not to profit. The lawsuit was quickly dropped after OpenAI released old emails from Musk in which he claimed that the company needed to make money to fund its ambitions. He filed another lawsuit in August of that same year, once again accusing OpenAI of chasing after profit.

According to CNN, OpenAI has responded each time by stating that Musk is “jealous that he was no longer involved in the startup.” Adding on to this constant back-and-forth feud, Musk  made an artificial intelligence company, xAI, in 2023 to compete with OpenAI.

The public exchanges between Musk and Altman are filling social media platforms, reflecting a broader tension in the artificial intelligence industry with rapid innovation. As artificial intelligence technology continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, competition between companies and the issue of control remains at the forefront. With President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk has more support to continue with his ambitions than ever before, and the public is left wondering if his efforts will significantly impact OpenAI.