OpenAI flatly rejects billionaire Elon Musk's offer

OpenAI has flatly rejected a $97.4 billion offer from a group led by billionaire Elon Musk to acquire ChatGPT maker, saying the artificial intelligence (AI) startup is not for sale.

The "money-driven" approach is billionaire Elon Musk's latest attempt to prevent the startup he co-founded with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman - but later left - from becoming a for-profit business, as it seeks to secure more funding and maintain its lead in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

OepnAI flatly rejected a $97.4 billion offer from a consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk.

"OpenAI is not for sale and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk's latest attempt to suppress a competitor. Any potential restructuring of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit organization and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity," OpenAI President Bret Taylor said on behalf of the board.

Mr Musk's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said OpenAI was selling control of the for-profit business and alleged the move would "enrich a few board members of the company, not the charity".

In late December 2024, OpenAI outlined plans for a restructuring, saying it would create a public benefit corporation to more easily “raise more capital” and remove restrictions placed on the startup by its current nonprofit parent company.

On Monday, Mr. Altman rejected the alliance's offer by posting "No thanks!" on social network X, prompting billionaire Musk to call him a "scammer." On Tuesday, Altman told the news website Axios that OpenAI is not for sale.

OpenAI says the company is not for sale.

In a court filing Wednesday, Mr. Musk’s lawyers said the coalition, which includes the Tesla chief’s AI startup xAI, would withdraw its offer to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit arm if the company scraps its plans to become a for-profit organization.

According to a letter signed by William Savitt, an attorney representing the company, and sent to Toberoff on Friday, the OpenAI board said that as a result of that filing, it is now clear that the customer's widely publicized 'offer' was not in fact a genuine offer.

Other investors in the venture include Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital and Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel.

Altman and Musk have been at odds for years. After Musk left in 2019, OpenAI formed a for-profit arm that has attracted billions of dollars in funding, sparking accusations from Musk that the startup has violated its original mission by putting profit above the public good.

Mr. Musk sued Altman, OpenAI, and its biggest backer, Microsoft, last August for breach of contract. In November 2024, Mr. Musk asked a federal court for a preliminary injunction to prevent OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit structure.

(Source: Reuters)

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