OpenAI’s board ‘unanimously rejects’ Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company

OpenAI’s board of directors has responded to Elon Musk’s bid to buy the company. In a statement on X, OpenAI chair Bret Taylor said, “OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition.”

Musk and a coalition of backers offered to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion earlier this week. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly responded to the news on X, saying “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Musk’s bid could still complicate things for OpenAI, which is in the midst of transitioning into a for-profit company. The board has to do what’s best for the nonprofit, and that’ll mean having to prove that Altman’s spinoff plan leaves it in a better place than Musk’s offer would have. On Wednesday, Musk’s lawyers said in a court filing that the billionaire will withdraw his offer if OpenAI agrees to remain a nonprofit company.

Taylor suggested that concession was off the board. “Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity,” Taylor wrote.

Correction, February 14th: A previous version of the article incorrectly quoted Sam Altman as saying he will buy Twitter for $97.4 billion. He said $9.74 billion.