Sam Altman attacks Elon Musk over OpenAI bid: ‘Don’t think he's a happy person'

Sam Altman rebuffs Elon Musk's $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI, citing Musk's insecurity as a motive.

The Elon Musk versus Sam Altman feud continues to grow stronger as the OpenAI CEO on Tuesday hit out on the 'X' owner's "insecurity", saying that it was a factor in his decision to make a hostile bid for control of the AI tech firm.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman had co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit in 2015. (AFP)

The escalating war of words between the tech billionaires saw Altman reiterating that "OpenAI is not for sale. The OpenAI mission is not for sale."

In an interview with Bloomberg, Altman said, "Probably, his whole life is from a position of insecurity, I feel for the guy," adding that he doesn't think Musk is a "happy person".

Musk's bid came in the backdrop of his attempts to block the transition of OpenAI from a non-profit to for-profit organization as part of a federal lawsuit against ChatGPT maker, key investor Microsoft and Sam Altman.

Atman and Musk had co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit in 2015, however the latter left the firm before it took off and made a big name in the market.

‘Wish he would just compete’

A consortium of investors led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Monday had made an offer of $97.4 billion to buy the non-profit that controls OpenAI, prompting further tensions in his long-standing rift with Altman.

However, the OpenAI CEO quickly responded and posted on X, "No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."

The top executive of the ChatGPT maker firm further told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the AI Action Summit in Paris that Musk's offer was just aimed at gaining a competitive advantage, “I think he is probably just trying to slow us down. He obviously is a competitor.”

"I wish he would just compete by building a better product, but I think there's been a lot of tactics, many, many lawsuits, all sorts of other crazy stuff," Altman added.

However, despite Altman's public response to Musk's bid, the board of OpenAI will have some say in how seriously the offer should be taken. Larry Summers, the OpenAI board director, told the media outlet that he has not received "any formal communication" from Musk on the bid.

Notably, Musk's attorney said that his offer was backed by his own firm xAI and had support of several investors including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC and media executive Ari Emanuel, through his investment fund.

In the backdrop of this, OpenAI is in the middle of an attempt to orchestrate a massive fundraising event that may provide the company with a post-money valuation of $300 billion. Last year in October, the firm was valued at $157 billion.

Following the fallout between Altman and the OpenAI board, a complete overhaul of the board was undertake. This has placed former treasury secretary Larry Summers and investment banker Adebayo Ogunlesi in the directors' list.