OpenAI questions Musk-led $97.4 billion takeover bid, cites contradictions

WASHINGTON: OpenAI’s board of directors has raised concerns over a $97.4 billion takeover bid led by Elon Musk and others, questioning the rationale behind the proposal, as reported by The New York Times on Wednesday.

On Monday, a group of investors led by Musk made a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI’s assets. In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took a jibe at the offer on X, saying, “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want”. Musk responded by calling Altman a “swindler”.

no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025

In a court filing on Wednesday, OpenAI argued that Musk’s offer contradicted his legal stance in a lawsuit he filed against the company last year. The filing pointed out that Musk had previously asserted that OpenAI’s assets must remain with the nonprofit and should not be transferred to another organisation for public gain.

The company is essentially accusing Musk of hypocrisy. In his lawsuit, he argued that OpenAI must be governed by the nonprofit. Now, OpenAI contends, he is arguing the opposite, The New York Times reported. As of now, OpenAI’s board has not made a formal decision on the offer.

Meanwhile, Marc Toberoff, a Los Angeles lawyer who filed the lawsuit against OpenAI on behalf of Musk, said in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday, “The lawsuit is not about who controls OpenAI. It’s about Sam Altman and OpenAI’s misconduct.”

He added, “If OpenAI’s board is prepared to stipulate to take the ‘For Sale’ sign off the charity’s assets in its so-called ‘conversion,’ Musk will withdraw his bid. But, of course, OpenAI will never do that.”

Notably, Musk and Altman have been at loggerheads for quite some time. In August last year, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of putting profits before its initial nonprofit mission of advancing AI in a way that benefits all of humanity.

This month, a United States federal judge had said that parts of Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI to halt its conversion to a for-profit entity might go to trial, adding that the Tesla CEO will have to appear in court and testify, Al Jazeera reported.

It is, however, pertinent to note that Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left before the company took off and subsequently founded the competing AI startup xAI in 2023.

Just in the first week of his presidency, Donald Trump announced a joint venture, Stargate, that would invest around $500 billion in AI infrastructure via a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and SoftBank (SFTBY). (ANI)