OpenAI鈥檚 board has not received Musk鈥檚 takeover bid, source says

This combination of pictures created on February 11, 2025 shows (L-R) Elon Musk in Los Angeles, on February 3, 2024 and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023. (AFP)
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  • OpenAI鈥檚 board of directors has not yet received a formal bid from Musk鈥檚 group, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday

NEW YORK/PARIS: OpenAI鈥檚 board has not yet received a formal bid from an Elon Musk-led consortium, although a lawyer for the billionaire said the offer had been sent to OpenAI鈥檚 outside counsel. A day after Musk publicized a bid to offer $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls ChatGPT maker OpenAI, the two sides were still at odds over what exactly happened to the formal bid.
OpenAI鈥檚 board of directors has not yet received a formal bid from Musk鈥檚 group, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, adding to the confusion over the unsolicited attempt to take control of the world鈥檚 most prominent AI company.
Musk鈥檚 lawyer, Marc Toberoff, told Reuters that he sent the offer by email on Monday to OpenAI鈥檚 outside counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bid 鈥� attached to an email 鈥� was in the form of a 鈥渄etailed four-page Letter of Intent鈥� to purchase OpenAI鈥檚 assets, signed by Musk and other investors and addressed to the board, Toberoff said.
鈥淲hether Sam Altman chose to provide or withhold this from OpenAI鈥檚 other Board members is outside of our control,鈥� he said, referring to OpenAI鈥檚 CEO.
The nonprofit that controls OpenAI is not for sale, Altman told Reuters on Tuesday when asked about Musk鈥檚 offer to buy it. The offer by the Musk-led consortium came amid the billionaire鈥檚 fight to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.
鈥淚 have nothing to say. I mean, it鈥檚 ridiculous,鈥� Altman said on the sidelines of an AI summit in Paris when asked about the offer.
鈥淭he company is not for sale. It鈥檚 another one of his tactics to try to mess with us,鈥� Altman said, referring to Musk.
In an internal message to OpenAI employees on Monday, Altman said the board, though it had not officially reviewed the offer, planned to reject it based on the interest of OpenAI鈥檚 mission.
Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit, but left before the company took off due to a disagreement over the company鈥檚 direction and funding sources with Altman and other co-founders. In 2023, he launched the competing AI startup, xAI. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of technology company X, is a close ally of US President Donald Trump. He leads the Department of Government Efficiency, a new arm of the White House tasked with radically shrinking the federal bureaucracy.
OpenAI, in the process of raising $40 billion, is also seeking to transition into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, which it says is required to secure the capital needed for developing the best AI models. The complicated transition involves putting a price tag on OpenAI鈥檚 nonprofit control of the for-profit arm.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings has said she is reviewing OpenAI鈥檚 proposed changes to ensure the company is 鈥渁dhering to its specific charitable purposes for the benefit of the public beneficiaries, as opposed to the commercial or private interests of OpenAI鈥檚 directors or partners.鈥�
Legal experts said Musk鈥檚 bid complicates the fair value held by OpenAI, particularly regarding charitable assets in its complicated corporate conversion, meaning the price it needs to pay in exchange for the nonprofit to give up control.
鈥淚t does help set a price point for the thinking about the valuation of the nonprofit assets,鈥� Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, the consumer rights watchdog, told Reuters. 鈥淚f it were to occur as proposed, the regulators have a duty to ensure that if there鈥檚 a selloff of assets to a for-profit entity, that fair market value is obtained.鈥�