Updates to add latest events related to OpenAI
Feb 12 (Reuters) - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said "no thank you" to a $97.4 billion bid for the startup's nonprofit parent from a consortium led by Elon Musk, the latest twist in a high-stakes power struggle over the future of the ChatGPT maker.
The nonprofit that controls OpenAI is not for sale, Altman told Reuters on Tuesday when asked about Musk's offer that came amid the billionaire's fight to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.
Below is a timeline of important events related to the AI company since its inception:
Date | Event |
December 11, 2015 | Tech executives including Musk and Altman announce the launch of OpenAI, pouring in $1 billion to create the AI firm |
2018 | OpenAI announces that Musk is leaving its board |
2019 | OpenAI creates for-profit arm to help raise funds from investors |
Nov. 17, 2023 | OpenAI board fires CEO Altman and President Greg Brockman quits. Mira Murati named as interim CEO |
Nov. 18, 2023 | Altman's firing was over a "breakdown in communication between Sam and the board," and not "malfeasance", COO Brad Lightcap says in an internal memo |
Nov. 20, 2023 | Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the Windows maker has hired Altman, Brockman and their colleagues to lead a new advanced AI research team |
OpenAI appoints former Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear pledges probe into Altman's exit. | |
Nearly all OpenAI staff threaten to quit and join Altman at Microsoft, demanding board resign and Altman and Brockman are reinstated | |
Nov. 21, 2023 | OpenAI says Altman will return as CEO with a new initial board. Brockman will also return |
Nov. 29, 2023 | Altman says Microsoft will take a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board |
Dec. 13, 2023 | Axel Springer partners with OpenAI in a first-of-its-kind deal to deliver summaries of the global news publisher's content |
Dec. 27, 2023 | The New York Times NYT.N sues OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using the newspaper's articles without permission to train chatbots |
Jan. 25, 2024 | The FTC orders OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet GOOGL.O, Amazon AMZN.O and Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships as it scrutinizes tech deals |
Feb. 16, 2024 | OpenAI completes a deal that values it at $80 billion or more, according to media reports |
March 1, 2024 | Musk sues OpenAI and Altman, saying they abandoned the startup's original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity |
March 8, 2024 | Altman returns to the OpenAI board along with three new directors |
May 14, 2024 | OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever leaves the company |
June 10, 2024 | OpenAI hires Sarah Friar, former CEO of social media firm Nextdoor KIND.N, as its first CFO |
June 11, 2024 | Musk moves to dismiss his lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman |
July 10, 2024 | Microsoft gives up its board observer seat at OpenAI |
August 5, 2024 | Musk revives lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI |
September 25, 2024 | OpenAI's three top technical leaders, including CTO Mira Murati, quit the company |
October 2, 2024 | OpenAI raises $6.6 billion, valuing the company at $157 billion |
December 27, 2024 | OpenAI says it plans to revamp its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation $(PBC)$ to ease the restrictions imposed by its current non-profit parent |
January 14, 2025 | Private equity veteran Adebayo Ogunlesi, CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), joins OpenAI's board |
January 21, 2025 | OpenAI plans joint venture with SoftBank and Oracle ORCL.N to build up to $500 billion of new AI data centers in the United States |
Microsoft changes its exclusive deal terms with OpenAI to allow the company to build additional data center capacity, paving the way for the JV | |
January 22, 2025 | OpenAI and SoftBank say they will each commit $19 billion to fund Stargate, a joint venture to develop data centers for AI in the U.S |
January 30, 2025 | SoftBank Group is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of $300 billion, including new funds, sources say |
February 10, 2025 | A consortium led by Musk offers to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI for $97.4 billion. |
February 11, 2025 | OpenAI's board has not received Musk's takeover bid, source says |
(Reporting by Akash Sriram, Arsheeya Bajwa, Zaheer Kachwala, Kritika Lamba and Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Rosalba O'Brien and Shinjini Ganguli)
((Akash.Sriram@thomsonreuters.com; On X as @HoodieOnVeshti; +91-74116-87774))
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