Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney asks if OpenAI will take VBucks as payment to buy ChatGPT maker

OpenAI is fishing for money right now, with Elon Musk offering to buy the ChatGPT creator for $97.4 billion but being turned down by CEO Sam Altman... and now Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney wants to buy OpenAI... with VBucks, the virtual currency from Fortnite.

In a post on X, the founder and CEO of Epic Games said: "Will OpenAI take VBucks in payment? Thinking of making an offer" in reply to a post about a group of investors led by Elon Musk offering a $97.4 billion bid to takeover OpenAI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declined the $97.4B offer, with a counter-offer to acquire X (which he called Twitter) for $9.74 billion.

• Read more: Elon Musk tries to buy OpenAI, but Sam Altman replies 'no thank you', tries to buy X for $9.74B

Musk said in a statement provided by his lawyer Mark Toberoff to The Wall Street Journal: "It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens". Better yet, Musk's team has promised to match or exceed any higher offers for OpenAI that it receives, and with the likes of Microsoft and other AI giants swirling around, things are going to get real interesting for OpenAI, real soon.

• Read more: President Trump announces Stargate: $500B investment into AI for the USA
• Read more: Elon Musk: OpenAI 'don't actually have the money' for Stargate

OpenAI was valued at $157 billion in its last funding round in October 2024, but with further funding rounds since then, the ChatGPT maker has seen its value hitting over $300 billion.

Musk's attorney added on his behalf and other investors: "As the co-founder of OpenAI and the most innovative and successful tech industry leader in history, Musk is the person best positioned to protect and grow OpenAI's technology".