
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg rumored $97B OpenAI deal
Introduction Musk Zuckerberg OpenAI Rumor
The world of Silicon Valley is often abuzz with news that dances on the blurred line between truth and fiction. One such stormy news that made headlines recently was Tesla and former Twitter CEO Elon Musk approaching Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg with an offer of $97 billion (approximately Rs 7,90,00,00,00,00,000) to jointly acquire OpenAI, the world’s most talked about artificial intelligence (AI) company. Also, this news sounds like a story that could be the plot of a Hollywood sci-fi movie. The two richest and most competitive people in the world, a technology that is going to change the future. And a deal whose cost is equal to the annual budget of a small country. But is it true? Or is it just a sensational rumor? We will unravel each layer of this claim, understand the context behind it and try to know why this news became so popular.
Origin of the claim and fact-check
The claim was first made by a website and a Twitter account named The Onion, not The Onion, but a site similar to The Babylon Bee. But the claim came from a different source. Also, the news actually started from a lesser-known digital media outlet whose credibility has already been questioned. It is important to know that there is a large network of satire and fake news on the Internet, which deliberately spreads rumors. Going viral This news started spreading like wildfire on social media, especially on Twitter. Also, the hashtag MuskZuckerbergOpenAI started trending. People believed it to be true without any confirmation because it perfectly fit the publicly known rivalry between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and their interest in the AI race. Also, fact-checking As soon as the news went viral, independent fact-checking organizations and major media houses started researching it.
Still why does this rumor seem so interesting?
If it is not true. Because this rumour in itself is a fascinating What If story. And it gives us a chance to understand the power struggles, personal animosities, and fear and excitement about the future going on in the world of AI. Let’s look at this hypothetical deal from different angles. Also, Elon Musk’s past and current feud with OpenAI And Musk’s association with OpenAI is nothing new. He was in fact one of the founders of OpenAI. Also, role of the founder In 2015, Elon Musk, Sam Altman and others founded OpenAI as a non-profit organization. Their aim was to make AI research safe and beneficial to humanity, while keeping it away from corporate pressure. Differences and separation In 2018, Musk separated from the board of OpenAI. The official reason given was that his AI project at Tesla was creating a “conflict of interest” for self-driving cars.
Microsoft’s big investment
Another big concern of Musk is Microsoft’s huge investment of more than $13 billion in OpenAI. He feels that OpenAI has now become a profit-making company which is effectively a subsidiary of Microsoft but has lost its original goal of human welfare. Also, from this perspective, buying OpenAI would have been an emotional and strategic win for Musk. And it would have been like regaining control of his own child and running it according to his vision. He could also free it from Microsoft’s influence.
Battle of public space Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion to create X, which he describes as the digital town square of the most accurate information. On the other hand, Zuckerberg’s Meta launched a new text-based platform called Threads which is directly to compete with X. Threads gained 100 million users in record time, which further intensified the competition between the two.
Musk Zuckerberg OpenAI Rumor
If Musk wanted to partner with someone, why would he go to his biggest rival? This is what makes this rumor even more spicy. Musk has created his own AI company called xAI. Which has a chatbot called Grok. He claims that Grok is even more accurate and rebellious. Also, Zuckerberg, who is meta, has always bet on open-source AI models. He has made powerful models like Llama 2 and Llama 3 freely available to researchers and developers. Zuckerberg believes that the future of AI is in open-source and he is a direct competitor of the closed systems of OpenAI and Google. Also, casual vs futuristic image Zuckerberg’s public image is that of a process-oriented data-driven executive. On the other hand, Musk describes himself as a visionary risk-taker and architect of the future of humanity. This is also a clash of personalities.
97 billion dollars is this a realistic price?
OpenAI’s valuation is a very interesting question. Also, Microsoft’s investment is 13 billion+ of Microsoft’s After the investment of $ 100 billion, OpenAI’s valuation was estimated to be around $ 80 to $ 90 billion. This is based on an internal share sale. And can it be bought? The biggest question here is whether OpenAI is for sale? OpenAI’s structure is very complex. Its core is a non-profit board whose aim is not to earn money but to make AI safe. Its for-profit arm includes microcontrollers, microcontrollers, and microcontrollers. Microsoft owns a large part of the company. Simply put, OpenAI is not a traditional company that can be simply sold to the highest bidder. Also, $97 billion, which is a little higher than the current valuation, is not impossible. Given the incredible success of ChatGPT and the future potential of AI, any buyer can pay a premium price.
Microsoft’s legal battle of Musk Zuckerberg OpenAI Rumor
Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has an exclusive license for its technology. They would fight every possible legal battle against any hostile takeover. It would be the biggest corporate legal war of the decade. And if OpenAI had gone into the hands of Musk and Zuckerberg to transform the AI ecosystem, the question of whether it is open or closed would have arisen afresh. Would they have made it more open-source? Or would they have made it exclusive by integrating it into their products and apps like Microsoft?
\ The balance of the entire AI industry would have been disturbed, along with the exodus of talent, which is why OpenAI employees work there because they believe in its mission. If the company were to go into the hands of two individuals with whom he has differences, a large number of key researchers and engineers would leave the company. This would drain OpenAI of its greatest strength, its talent.
Real world realities Musk Zuckerberg OpenAI Rumor
In the real world, both Musk and Zuckerberg are competing with OpenAI instead of buying it. Also, Elon Musk’s xAI, which is Musk’s answer is not to buy OpenAI but to compete with it with his own company xAI and chatbot Grok. And he is accusing OpenAI of being woke and censored and presenting Grok as an uncensored alternative. Also, Mark Zuckerberg’s open-source mission, which is that instead of investing money in buying OpenAI, Zuckerberg is investing his money and resources in developing Meta’s open-source AI models (Llama series). And his strategy is that open-source AI is the future and he wants to be its leader. Plus personal rivalry, with recent reports suggesting that Musk and Zuckerberg even challenged each other to a physical cage fight! Though this mostly appears to be a publicity stunt.