OpenAI Board Unanimously Rejects Elon Musk’s Acquisition Bid

OpenAI’s board of directors has unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s offer to acquire the nonprofit that oversees the company, OpenAI announced on Friday.

In a statement posted via its official X account, OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor dismissed Musk’s bid as “an attempt to disrupt his competition.”

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to interfere with his competitors,” Taylor stated. “Any restructuring of OpenAI will be aimed at strengthening our nonprofit and its mission to ensure artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.”

According to The New York Times, OpenAI also sent a letter to Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, stating that the proposal was “not in the best interests of [OpenAI’s] mission.”

On Monday, Musk, along with his AI company xAI and a group of investors, submitted a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit entity. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the board swiftly rejected the unsolicited offer. OpenAI’s board counsel, Andy Nussbaum, stated that Musk’s bid “doesn’t set a value for [OpenAI’s] nonprofit” and reaffirmed that the nonprofit is “not for sale.”

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company and Altman last year, accusing them of anticompetitive behavior, fraud, and other violations.

Originally established as a nonprofit, OpenAI transitioned to a “capped-profit” model in 2019, with its nonprofit entity maintaining control over the for-profit OpenAI corporation. The company is now in the process of restructuring into a public benefit corporation, a move Musk seeks to block through his lawsuit.

In a Wednesday court filing, Musk’s lawyers stated he would withdraw his bid if OpenAI’s board commits to preserving the nonprofit’s mission and halts its transition to a for-profit entity. However, in a separate filing the same day, OpenAI’s legal team described Musk’s offer as “an improper attempt to undermine a competitor” and contradictory to his own legal arguments, which claim OpenAI’s restructuring would violate its charitable mission.

The bid has sparked a public feud between Musk’s allies and Altman. In a Thursday podcast interview, Ari Emanuel, one of Musk’s backers, called Altman a “phony” who is “trying to get away with cheating the charity and its original mission.” Altman, in turn, dismissed Musk’s bid as “an attempt to slow [OpenAI] down” and suggested Musk’s actions stem from “a position of insecurity.”