OpenAI officially refuses to 'sell itself' to billionaire Elon Musk

OpenAI asserts that it is not for sale and has officially rejected a nearly $100 billion acquisition offer from billionaire Elon Musk.

Billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (right) have been rivals for many years - Photo: AFP

On February 14th (US time), OpenAI's board of directors rejected a $97.4 billion offer from billionaire Elon Musk, stating that the startup is not for sale and that any future offers related to this matter would be dishonest.

Billionaire Musk has offered to buy the company that owns ChatGPT, fearing that the startup is becoming a for-profit company, given its recent surge in funding and its leading position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry.

"OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected attempts to block Musk's latest competitor."

"Any restructuring move by OpenAI will reinforce its non-profit nature and mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits humanity," OpenAI quoted Chairman Bret Taylor in a statement published on X.

Last weekend, CEO Sam Altman also confirmed to Axios that OpenAI is not for sale. Previously, Altman had rejected the offer by replying "no, thank you" on X, prompting billionaire Musk to call him a "fraud."

In court documents filed on February 12, Musk's lawyers asserted that the alliance, which includes the billionaire's startup xAI, would withdraw its offer to acquire the non-profit arm of OpenAI if the company abandoned its plans to become a for-profit enterprise.

Billionaire Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI with Altman, but later left the partnership.

According to Reuters, after Musk left the startup in 2019, OpenAI established a for-profit branch that attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in funding. This sparked accusations from the billionaire that OpenAI had violated its original mission by prioritizing profit over the public good.

In August 2024, Musk sued Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, and the startup's biggest supporter was Microsoft, owned by billionaire Bill Gates.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/openai-chinh-thuc-tu-choi-ban-minh-cho-ti-phu-elon-musk-20250215075544238.htm