Open AI rejects Elon Musk offer to buy

On Friday, OpenAI declined a $97.4 billion offer from a consortium headed by billionaire Elon Musk, stating that the startup is not for sale.

This unsolicited bid is thought to be Musk’s recent effort to prevent the startup he co-founded with CEO Sam Altman – from which he later departed – from turning into a for-profit entity. ChatGPT aims to raise additional capital and maintain its competitive edge in the AI sector.

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition. Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity,” OpenAI said on X, quoting its chair Bret Taylor, on behalf of its board.

On Tuesday, Altman told news website Axios that OpenAI was not for sale. He had rebuffed the offer on Monday with a “no thank you” on X, prompting Musk to retort: “Swindler.”

The consortium led by Musk, including his AI startup xAI, would withdraw its bid for OpenAI’s non-profit arm if it drops plans to become a for-profit entity, the billionaire’s lawyers said in a court filing on Wednesday.