First Thing: Musk-led group bids $97.4bn for control of OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the offer will not be accepted. Plus, $500m of food aid could spoil amid USAid cuts

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Good morning.

Elon Musk leads a consortium of investors that on Monday submitted a bid of $97.4bn for all assets" of the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, with Musk escalating his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman.

What did the bidders say? If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI, Inc. board of directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time," said Marc Toberoff, the attorney representing the investors.

How did Altman respond? Altman posted on X: no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74bn if you want." Musk bought Twitter in 2022 for $44bn and renamed it X.

What are analysts saying now? Now the election isn't going to be about Trudeau," said Eric Grenier, a political analyst at the Writ. It will most likely be about the next four years - and who is best able to deal with Trump."