In a dramatic escalation of Silicon Valleys most heated AI rivalry, Elon Musk just announced that hes leading a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAIs nonprofit arm, according to The Wall Street Journal. The bid was reportedly delivered to the board Monday morning.The offer brings together a powerful coalition of backers, including Musks own AI company xAI and venture heavyweights like Valor Equity Partners, Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdales venture firm 8VC.This bid comes at a pivotal moment for OpenAI. CEO Sam Altman is already juggling multiple massive deals: converting the company to a for-profit structure, raising $40 billion at a $340 billion valuation, and launching a $500 billion AI infrastructure project. For Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 before departing in 2019, this bid represents his boldest move yet to challenge what he sees as the companys betrayal of its original mission to develop AI safely and openly (an allegation hes presently suing OpenAI for).Its time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was, Musk said in a statement provided by his lawyer Marc Toberoff to The Wall Street Journal. We will make sure that happens.The bid also adds a significant layer of complexity to OpenAIs planned for-profit conversion, as Musks team has promised to match or exceed any higher offers. This creates a thorny situation for Altman, whos already navigating negotiations with Microsoft and other stakeholders over equity in the planned for-profit structure.Shortly after the news was announced, Altman posted on X: no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025OpenAI pointed to Altmans post when asked for comment. Toberoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.