Sam Altman Calls Musk's Acquisition Proposal "A Scheme to Shake Us"
Musk's Strange Moves Remind Investors of His Twitter Takeover
Tesla Stock Volatile Amid Unusual Behavior
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, attended the 'Kakao Media Day' held at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 4th of this month and had a conversation with Jeong Sin-ah, CEO of Kakao. On the 11th (local time), Sam Altman dismissed Elon Musk, Tesla CEO's acquisition proposal of OpenAI as "nonsense." Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, dismissed Elon Musk, Tesla CEO's proposal to acquire OpenAI as "nonsense" on the 11th (local time), rejecting the acquisition rumors.
Altman made these remarks in response to a question from Reuters during his visit to Paris, France, to attend the 3rd AI Action Summit. He stated, "The company is not for sale," and criticized, "This is another scheme by Musk to shake us."
In an interview with Bloomberg TV on the same day, he analyzed the background, saying, "Perhaps he wants to slow down our pace." Altman evaluated, "He is an obvious competitor. It would be good if he made better products and competed, but so far there have been too many tactics, numerous lawsuits, and all sorts of strange things," adding, "It is still like that now." He also added that "His whole life seems to stem from anxiety. I feel sorry for him," and said he does not consider Musk a "happy person."
Earlier, the U.S. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the previous day that Musk's legal representatives had proposed acquiring a controlling stake in OpenAI for $97.4 billion (141 trillion won). According to the report, Musk said in the acquisition proposal, "Now is the time for OpenAI to return to being a force for good, focusing on open source and safety as it once did."
OpenAI has drawn a line on such media reports. However, Larry Summers, a director at OpenAI, said in a Bloomberg TV interview on the same day, "Apart from media reports, we have not received any kind of official (acquisition proposal) contact."
Musk's unusual behavior, combined with the burden from the tariff policy announced the previous day, caused Tesla's stock price to plummet. As of this day, it is trading at $328.50, down 6.34% from the previous session.
In the market, there are concerns that, similar to when Musk sold some of his Tesla shares to raise funds for acquiring Twitter in the past, he might sell Tesla shares again to raise a large amount of funds for acquiring OpenAI, putting downward pressure on the stock price.
The U.S. financial media Barron's reported that Musk's OpenAI acquisition proposal is reminding investors of the time when Musk acquired Twitter, increasing anxiety. In fact, Tesla's stock price fell about 33% from April 2022, when Musk mentioned the Twitter acquisition proposal, until late October of the same year when the Twitter deal was completed.
Additionally, the import tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by U.S. President Donald Trump are also a burden on Tesla's stock price. President Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum products imported into the U.S., and since steel and aluminum are key materials for Tesla vehicles, the tariffs could increase vehicle production costs.
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