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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

#511

Post by z7 »

guybedo wrote: post #498
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.

I don't get what is "financial terrorism" here: He's making an offer to buy something at twice the price of the other offer on the table. I'm not sure it'd be a good deal for Musk but it looks like a good deal for the seller.

I don't understand it either. Why is Elon Musk a "terrorist"? And why is this the most upvoted post? Maybe being European limits my ability to comprehend American political rhetoric.

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

#513

Post by CoastalCoder »

UltraSane wrote: post #483
ben_w wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you give an example?

I dislike Musk as much as the next person, but I can't think of any major state actors or criminal organizations he'd currently be antagonizing.

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

#514

Post by _2d30 »

joshuamorton wrote: post #482
_2d30 wrote: post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "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,…

> 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

If the OpenAI-NP board sees such existential risk from a change in leadership of OpenAI-P, how can they in good faith eschew control of it? By removing themselves from control, they would see the exact same risk anyhow. Elon could make a tender offer for the private for-profit entity that its board would be bound to accept in its fiduciary duty to shareholders. Plus, they would have to make the case that both Elon is specifically bad AND that he's so bad that it's not worth having $57B more to deploy for their AI goals. What's more, you would have to consider whether or not preventing Elon from controlling OpenAI even prevents whatever risk you see from Elon as he is already building xAI in parallel.

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

You can't buy a non-profit. It's their assets he's trying to buy. If OpenAI-NP values their OpenAI-P claims at $40B then that's what Elon would own according to their own beliefs.

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

#515

Post by mattmaroon »

Retric wrote: post #416
mattmaroon wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He founded (for some definition) the two most impressive American corporations of the century and tweeted a lot to build a direct connection to people.

I’m wondering under what definition he “founded” Tesla rather than being the investor who took it over years later kicking the founders out? I’d give him SpaceX, but it definitely did better when he was paying less attention to it.

Among other things, the terms of a legal settlement with the other people who "founded" it.

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

#516

Post by johnnyanmac »

briffle wrote: post #346
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.

Yep, hard to respect a guy who spent how many years screaming that full self driving will be out by next quarter!?

The Peter Molyneux of tech. But at least Peter was just an over-ambitious game designer and missed promises were just less video games.

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

#517

Post by TheRealNGenius »

lupusreal wrote: post #467
ak_111 wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He single handedly also vindicated one of the most authoritarian regimes - China - in how it slapped Jack Ma as soon as he started entering politics and gaining influence beyond tech entrepreneurship.

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

[dead]

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

#518

Post by globalnode »

lupusreal wrote: post #484
ak_111 wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

im not criticizing your opinion but can you point me to some evidence that shows they routinely practice mass murder? im genuinely curious.

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

#519

Post by ghc »

protocolture wrote: post #501
slg wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What’s impressive about Tesla? There is this weird revisionist history now that Musk is hated to dismiss all Tesla's accomplishments as meaningless. The traditional auto industry would have never embraced EVs to the extent they have if someone did not disrupt the market in a way like Tesla did. That is both impressive and huge net positive for humanity in a way that is an extremely rare achievement for any startup.

They arent meaningless, Tesla did some pretty cool shit. And then they shipped a very small quantity of cars that have poor maintenance and the kind of vendor lockin that we get shitty at John Deere for. The issue isnt that Tesla did stuff. Its that its all historical stuff that doesnt justify its current market price. If I was to invest in a car company I would want them shipping millions of cars, not a "net positiv…

> If I was to invest in a car company I would want them shipping millions of cars

Tesla shipped 1.2 million of the Model Y alone in 2023, making it the best selling car worldwide. They sell about half as many cars as Ford, at 9x the profit margin.

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

#520

Post by johnnyanmac »

creato wrote: post #495
akudha wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

(Not OP) I liked his willingness to invest so much in exciting, lofty goals (Tesla, SpaceX). Twitter wrecked his mind. I'm not talking about buying it, I'm talking about being such a heavy user of it.

Shows how vulnerable anyone is to propoganda, no matter how high your quality of life.
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