Have you ever heard that the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well, Elon Musk wanted Zuckerberg to go against Bill Gates. And the trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI has uncovered some of the best gossip… Documents that reveal how Musk’s mind works: he wanted to ally with Zuckerberg to stop Microsoft’s influence in the development of Artificial Intelligence… And for that, he put on the table an offer of 97.6 billion euros to buy ChatGPT, but apparently Sam Altman rejected it.
The idea was to prevent OpenAI from ending up in the hands of Microsoft (which for a long time has been Gates’ strategic partner), but the plan didn’t work out as expected, Zuckerberg ignored it and created his own chatbot as direct competition to ChatGPT.
Ghosting Musk
According to what we’ve learned thanks to Business Insider, Musk wanted to form a front to take OpenAI’s control away from Microsoft, but Zuckerberg didn’t even answer, he ghosted him. And with no reply, there was no deal obviously. Musk couldn’t move forward with his project. But the anecdote didn’t end there, everything seemed secret until now when it came up during the trial… how much are the tech giants willing to pay to dominate the world?
Musk vs. Altman
This relationship is not something new, Musk and Altman founded OpenAI in 2015 along with other investors, but the relationship broke in 2018. Musk left the board of directors claiming differences with the company’s direction. Shortly after, OpenAI went from being a nonprofit to a commercial company after sealing its alliance with Microsoft. And from then on, everything went “downhill.”
Since then, Musk has filed up to two lawsuits against OpenAI. In one of them, he even publicly called Altman “Scam Altman,” accusing him of prioritizing financial profit over the public good, really, Musk???
xAI against everyone
Meanwhile, Musk has launched his own AI company: xAI. And yes, he has also started a legal offensive to try to break the agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI. We know how Musk is, he won’t sit still if there’s a possibility of strategic control that has to do with influence and power. We already saw it with Tesla and we already saw it with DOGE, Musk only stops when he is the one winning.
And on that board, neither Gates, nor Altman, nor Zuckerberg are allies. They are rivals.
What’s behind all this?
AI is no longer just a technical decision or a game for them, it is a battlefield between the tech giants. The three horsemen of the apocalypse (Gates, Musk and Zuckerberg) are not competing to develop the most advanced technology, but to control its impact on society, and therefore, on the global economy.
Does this affect us as users?
It seems like just a fight between billionaires, but this battle can directly influence us, especially because we are increasingly dependent on applications, and who doesn’t like an Artificial Intelligence answering their most hidden questions?
But of course, in all the things we tell our chats, there is very valuable information, what data we share, what applications we use, what our interests and concerns are… don’t you see the importance of this data?
If just one of these giants took control of artificial intelligence, it could set the prices of its services, limit competition and even condition the way we work, study or communicate. That’s why, beyond the media spectacle, this dispute is key for everyone’s future.
What seemed like a simple disagreement between companies has turned into a real war for global technological power. And you, how do you handle AI?