Elon Musk has launched a $97,4 billion bid for OpenAI. The Wall Street Journalreported that on Monday, a group of investors led Musk’s xAI made an unsolicited bid to the board of directors of the company. The group wants to purchase the nonprofit that controls OpenAI for-profit arm. OpenAI’s spokesperson pointed Engadget towards an article when asked for comment. Sam Altman, CEO, posted a message on X . Altman wrote a post on the social media platform Musk controls.
OpenAI’s Board of Directors officially rejected Musk’s bid on Friday. “OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” The company responded in a statement attributed to Bret Tayler, the chairperson of OpenAI’s Board of Directors. “Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity.”
Taylor was, incidentally the chairman of Twitter before Musk purchased the social media platform in 2022 for $44 billion.
Musk told The Journal in a statement that his attorney sharedThe Journal.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk stated in a written statement he provided to The Journal. “We will make sure that happens.”
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The bid by Musk is not serious and it’s hard to tell if it will succeed. OpenAI isn’t a traditional company. The nonprofit structure that Sam Altman and other company officials want to see it get rid of may actually protect it from Musk’s offer. Musk’s offer would trigger a “Revlon moment” in corporate law if OpenAI was a publicly traded for-profit company. Under certain circumstances, the board of directors could be forced to sell the company to the highest bidder, to maximize shareholder profits.
Updated 02/14 at 4:34PM ET (19459049]: OpenAI’s Board of Directors responded. If you purchase something after clicking on a link within this article, we might earn a commission.
