Elon Musk is taking a play out of the infamous Wall Street activist investor Elliott Investment Management's handbook and following the golden rule: "he who has the gold makes the rules."

This time, his goal is to wrestle OpenAI out of Sam Altman’s grasp using the one thing he has more of than Sam… money. Whether it’s buying Twitter (sorry, X), cuddling up and becoming BFF’s with Trump (after criticizing him for years), or crying wolf on Tesla’s robotaxi, Musk doesn’t do anything small. And now, he’s put in a $97.4 billion bid to take control of OpenAI and return it to what he claims is its true purpose… an “open-source, safety-focused force for good.”

Musk, backed by a group of investors including Vy Capital, XAI (his AI company), and Hollywood’s Ari Emanuel, has put in a bid to buy out OpenAI’s nonprofit arm. The move is an attempt to disrupt Altman’s plan to spin OpenAI into a full-fledged for-profit company… something Musk has been railing against ever since he left the organization in 2018.

Altman, never one to pass up a good roast, responded on X with a “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” (aka: keep your money nerd). Musk, never one to take an insult lightly, fired back with a simple “Swindler” proving no matter how old and rich we get, we always end up going back to acting like children when it comes to disagreements.

This is far more than Musk being petty (though that’s definitely part of it). He’s been suing OpenAI for allegedly abandoning its nonprofit roots in favor of, well, making money… something Musk has never had a problem with in his own companies. But here’s where it gets fun… OpenAI’s nonprofit entity technically owns and controls the for-profit arm, which is currently valued at $300 billion (a 934% return if it was a stock, if only).

Musk’s $97.4 billion bid is basically an attempt to blow up Altman’s carefully laid plans to turn OpenAI into a corporate giant. If the nonprofit board accepts Musk’s offer (unlikely, but legally messy if they don’t), it would force OpenAI to pay a much higher price to buy its own independence.

And if OpenAI tries to lowball its own nonprofit to break free? That could trigger a legal battle with state charity regulators, who might step in and say, “Yeah, you actually have to take the highest bid.” Classic rich guy chess match.

Altman has been on a PR blitz trying to make it clear that OpenAI is not for sale. He told staff internally that the board would be rejecting the bid outright, calling Musk’s offer unserious. He also implied that Musk was just trying to slow down a competitor while playing catch-up with his own AI ambitions.

Musk, on the other hand, insists he’s just trying to bring OpenAI back to its original mission and prevent it from becoming another soulless, profit-driven tech monopoly… because I’m sure he doesn’t want to make a penny from it.

This whole situation is unfolding against the backdrop of an AI arms race where companies are throwing around absurd amounts of cash. OpenAI is reportedly finalizing a $40 billion investment from SoftBank that would give it even more firepower to dominate the space. While Musk’s own AI venture, xAI, is still very much playing catch-up.

If you’re Altman, Musk’s bid is a distraction at best and a regulatory nightmare at worst. If you’re Musk, this is your chance to stake a claim in the AI race (like Buzz Aldrin planting a flag on the moon in 1969) to remind everyone he’s still a dominant force in the industry.

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