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Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

reuters.com

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Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#481

Post by mullingitover »

diogocp wrote: post #320
scarface_74 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s impressive about Tesla? It’s already being outcompeted by companies in China, losing market share, and the other manufacturers are catching up. Besides that, he’s pissed off the demographics most likely to buy Teslas. It’s not like most Trump voters are buying EVs

> What’s impressive about Tesla? The fact that it's worth more than all the other automakers combined. > the other manufacturers are catching up Re-read what you wrote, and consider how preposterous it is that automakers founded more than a century ago are now "catching up" to a company that sold its first car in 2008.

> The fact that it's worth more than all the other automakers combined.

The South Sea Company was also stupendously valuable until it wasn't.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#482

Post by joshuamorton »

_2d30 wrote: post #449
joshuamorton wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If OpenAI actually values OpenAI-NP at $40B then they will surely sell it for $97B. The point is the $40B is obviously a dramatic undervaluing and the fact they won't sell it for $97B shows that. This is the wrench. "We believe an OpenAI-P owned by Elon is fundamentally against our mission." While I'm not saying Sam's being an angel here, I do think it's reasonable to say that llms aren't an existential risk and sp…

> "We believe an OpenAI-P owned by Elon is fundamentally against our mission." But OpenAI-P of course wouldn't be owned by Elon, he would just own $40B worth of OpenAI-P according to their own valuation of it. A tiny minority stake of the $157B enterprise. OpenAI-NP, could just go back to other OpenAI investors and buy back their "$40B" stake plus have $57B leftover to apply to AI safety. Silly Elon, overpaying by al…

The issue isn't OpenAI-NP having some stake (which will obviously be the case no matter what), it's Elon having some stake.

If OpenAI-NP has a reasonable case to believe that Elon will be a bad steward of the technology and work against their charter (https://openai.com/charter/), they shouldn't sell to him, even if his offer is more than another. Unlike a normal board, the duty-to-shareholder isn't the only duty, a hostile buyout like with twitter doesn't necessarily work.

> But OpenAI-P of course wouldn't be owned by Elon, he would just own $40B worth of OpenAI-P according to their own valuation of it. A tiny minority stake of the $157B enterprise.

IDK, Musk's offer is apparently for the nonprofit, not for a partial interest in the not-yet-extant for-profit subsidiary.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#483

Post by UltraSane »

ben_w wrote: post #418
yodsanklai wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My hope is that he'll eventually make some big mistakes that will send him to jail. Or does presidential grace give him total immunity?

Given Musk is currently pissing off foreign governments , there is a real danger that one of those governments will just send in a nice looking person with some tea to have a quiet chat with him. After which, he will look very tired, and suddenly stop being "turbulent", as per the meaning several judges have recently noted in Trump trials was once infamously said by a king of a priest. Then I will be sad, because I w…

I have thought the same thing. Musk can protect himself from the average nutjob but he is working very hard to make the kinds of enemies he will NOT be able to protect himself from.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#484

Post by lupusreal »

ak_111 wrote: post #471
lupusreal wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing vindicates the CCP. They enact laws guaranteeing free speech and human rights, then execute their critics and sell their organs.

That's what I am saying, Musk shenanigan so bad they EVEN vindicated CCP.

No. Musk being a shithead does not vindicate a regime that routinely practices mass murder in flagrant violation of their own Constitution (which presumably only exists as a sick joke to them.) Article 35 of their Constitution guarantees free speech, but they murder people who try it. Read the rest of their Constitution while you're at it.

Even as a less than serious rhetorical argument, what you said is insane. Get a grip.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#485

Post by dialup_sounds »

akudha wrote: post #343
jredwards wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I liked Elon until about 2018. Since then he's gradually degraded from "interesting founder" to "guy who picks fights about weird topics on the internet" to "absurdist oligarch actively working to destroy institutions which support average Americans." I certainly suspect that there were always elements of what he's become that just weren't as publicly apparent.

What did you like about him until 2018? He is not some visionary or genius or even smart. Neither is/was he a decent person to deal with (read up on his PayPal days). He is however, extraordinarily ruthless and thin skinned. So what is it that you saw in him that you liked him?

Circa 2010 he still had the image of being an outsider and optimist instead of whatever we've got going on today.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#486

Post by johnnyanmac »

sangnoir wrote: post #221
orwin wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He always had it? Money give influence naturally. I've listened to a history podcast about the robber barons and how following the backlash and dismantlement of the Standard oil, industrialist started buying articles, sometime even newspapers to sell their stories, and in the US, it worked wonderfully. You still have the brand "Quaker" that was born at the time, and probably a dozen other, where they manipulated thei…

> He always had it? Money give influence naturally. Not as much as he has now: he was famously frustrated by the California state government's Covid lockdown mandates, and was pretty powerless against them. That frustration is probably what led him to buy influence in the Trump campaign,and later administration. Money can take you so far, political power will take you further for imposing your will on others. The "Sh…

I'm not going to be as extreme as saying "california has integrity". But California was wise to prioritize its people over a robber baron who's just mad his cars weren't selling. He probably still couldn't buy off CA to this day.

Switching to a side of fellow billionaire politicians was simply a way to be among his own people, with similar levels of empathy for the working class.

>By moving much faster than the bureaucracy and legal system can respond, the question on whether he has the power or authority to do the things he's doing may become moot.

I think long term someone is going to shut down his shenanigans for good. Maybe even Trump himself will throw him under the bus. But I do wonder how deep he can get and what his consequences are. Like, could he simply leak government data to Russia/China and only get away with a fine? He's not military, but Court Mashals have given the death sentence over much more mild causes.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#487

Post by UltraSane »

yodsanklai wrote: post #381
alpha_squared wrote: post #102

It feels like Musk is single-handedly making a great case for why unlimited accumulation of wealth is a bad idea. It's pretty colorful language, but my mind immediately jumps to "financial terrorist". He's using his enormous amount of wealth and influence as a weapon to bludgeon anyone and anything in his way.

> "financial terrorist" As a thought experiment, I like to wonder what would be the maximal amount of damage to humanity an extremely wealthy person could do entirely legally. Or if not damage, just trolling. For instance, writing X on the moon or something like that.

I wonder what would happen if Musk just paid $1 million to every single women who was willing to be inseminated with his sperm and $100,000/year/child to raise them and he ended up having thousands of kids.

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#488

Post by slama »

itsoktocry wrote: post #286
serjester wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenAI is the 6th most popular website in the world and if someone's going to kill Google, it's them. If they IPO'd today, they'd easily be worth hundreds of billions if not more.

> If they IPO'd today, they'd easily be worth hundreds of billions if not more. You can't just say things like this without justification. The last raise was in October, at $157B. Did OpenAI, the hottest startup in history, give away equity at a discount? Now, since that time, has the value gone up or down? We now know they have serious technological competition and are losing lots of money. I think the product is gr…

OpenAI is currently in talks to raise at a $340B valuation.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/30/openai-said-to-be-in-talks...

Re: Musk-led group makes $97B bid for control of OpenAI

#489

Post by avs733 »

polotics wrote: post #128
minimaxir wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon's response: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1889062013109703009 > Swindler In another tweet chain: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1889063777792069911 > Scam Altman

wow I had no idea the level of discourse on that x website was so low, has it always been like this?

It’s often higher than this, but your talking about the people in positions of power and leading our society…so my expectations are lower.
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