Elon Musk switches to 'Harry Bolz' alias on X again amid $97.4 billion OpenAI bid

The Tesla CEO, in 2023, had briefly changed his username to Harry Bolz, a slang term for "hairy balls".

Billionaire Elon Musk has once again changed his X username to "Harry Bolz", a move that comes just hours after a consortium led by him offered $97.4 billion to acquire OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.

This is not the first time Musk has used this alias. In 2023, he had briefly changed his username to Harry Bolz, a slang term for "hairy balls". At the time, Musk had joked about it on social media, saying, "Tbh, I’m just hoping a media org that takes itself way too seriously writes a story about Harry Bōlz."

Musk’s latest username switch has sparked speculation, especially given his history of using internet humor and memes to engage his audience. In December 2023, he changed his name to "Kekius Maximus", a mix of the popular gaming term "kek" and "Maximus," referencing Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator. His profile picture at the time featured Pepe the Frog dressed as a gladiator, fueling discussions about his references to internet subcultures.

Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made it clear that the AI firm is "not for sale." After news of the $97.4 billion bid broke on Monday night, Altman responded sarcastically on X, saying, "No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for 9.74 billion dollars if you want."

Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris, Altman reiterated OpenAI’s position, adding: "We’re happy to buy Twitter, though." In a separate interview with Axios, Altman dismissed Musk’s bid, saying:

"There have been versions of Elon trying to somehow take control of OpenAI for a long time. So, okay, here’s this week’s episode. OpenAI is not for sale. OpenAI’s mission is not for sale. To say nothing of the fact that a competitor who is not able to beat us in the market and, instead, is just trying to say, ‘I’m gonna buy this’ with total disregard for the mission is a likely path there."

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, parted ways with the company in 2018 and has since been critical of its direction. His latest bid, along with the rebranding of his X persona, has added a new layer to the ongoing rivalry between Tesla’s CEO and OpenAI’s leadership.