OpenAI is not for sale, Board tells Elon Musk

San Francisco, Feb 15 (IANS) Sam Altman-run OpenAI on Saturday rejected billionaire Elon Musk’s offer to buy the nonprofit company for $97.4 billion. 

In a statement on X social media platform, Bret Taylor, Board Chair of OpenAI, called Musk’s bid “an attempt to disrupt his competition.”

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” Taylor posted.

“Any potential reorganisation of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity,” said Taylor on behalf of the OpenAI Board of Directors.

According to reports, OpenAI has also sent a letter to Musk’s lawyer, saying that the bid was not in the best interests of its mission.

Earlier this week, Musk’s AI company, xAI, and a group of investors offered to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit for $97.4 billion.

Altman and the company’s board of directors dismissed the unsolicited proposal.

In a statement, Andy Nussbaum, the counsel representing OpenAI’s board, said Musk’s bid “doesn’t set a value for OpenAI’s nonprofit” and the nonprofit is “not for sale.”

Musk was an OpenAI co-founder and brought a lawsuit against the company and Altman, alleging that OpenAI engaged in anticompetitive behaviour and fraud, among other offences.

In October last year, Musk filed for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI for alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

The motion for an injunction accused OpenAI, its CEO Altman, President Greg Brockman, Microsoft, LinkedIn co-founder and former OpenAI board member Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI board member and Microsoft VP Dee Templeton of “various illicit activities and seeks to halt them”.

The allegations also included converting OpenAI’s governance structure to a for-profit and “transferring any material assets, including intellectual property owned, held, or controlled by OpenAI, Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates.”

OpenAI said in a statement that “Elon’s fourth attempt, which again recycles the same baseless complaints, continues to be utterly without merit.”

The AI company had earlier called the lawsuit “blusterous” and baseless.