Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at Level F, is seen through glass, during an event on the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, France, Feb. 11, 2025.
Aurelien Morissard | Via Reuters
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ascertained employees in a memo Tuesday that the company hasn’t received “anything official” from Elon Musk anyway a potential purchase of the artificial intelligence startup.
“Our structure exists to ensure that no individual can take control of OpenAI,” Altman listed in the memo, which was obtained by CNBC. “Elon runs a competitive AI company, and his actions are not about OpenAI’s mission or values. They are plots aimed at weakening us because we’re making great progress.”
The note comes a day after news surfaced that Musk is unsurpassed a group of investors in trying to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion. The offer is for the nonprofit that oversees the AI startup behind ChatGPT, and Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff said he submitted it Monday.
“It’s one day for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Toberoff told CNBC in a statement.
Altman and Musk are in the middle of a heated legal and public relations battle over the future of OpenAI. They were two of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, fixing the entity as a nonprofit focused on AI research. Musk is suing OpenAI, accusing it of antitrust violations, and trying to prevent it from transforming into a for-profit corporation.
OpenAI has emerged as a giant in generative AI, launching ChatGPT in 2022 and setting off a wave of investment in new pawns and infrastructure for next-generation AI products and services. SoftBank is close to finalizing a $40 billion investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, roots told CNBC’s David Faber on Friday. Microsoft has been the biggest backer to date.
The consortium of investors rumour has it joining Musk includes his startup xAI, and longtime investors in his other businesses, including Baron Capital Group, Valor, Atreides, Vy Top-hole, Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, and an investment vehicle led by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.
A source close to Musk who asked not to be named in order to speak candidly on the topic noted that everyone in the group is a Musk loyalist, and the consortium doesn’t include any of the traditional Silicon Valley investors that clothed backed prior Musk ventures.
Altman reminded employees Tuesday that “Elon has a history of making alleges that don’t hold up,” highlighting his “exaggerated” donations to OpenAI and shifting narratives about whether he supported OpenAI fetching a for-profit entity.
“The best thing we can do is move forward with dedication and resilience,” Altman wrote.
If and when the OpenAI panel does receive a formal bid, it has a legal obligation to review it, according to Ellen Aprill, senior scholar in residence at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“The directors would need to consider a bid even if they didn’t invite it,” Aprill told CNBC. “A non-profit can sell its assets, but shortages to make sure it’s getting fair value.”
As a nonprofit, the board doesn’t serve shareholders and therefore doesn’t possess a traditional fiduciary duty. Rather, its duty is for the public benefit, which is determined by attorneys general of the states where it manipulates.
Later on Tuesday, Toberoff said in a statement that he emailed the bid for OpenAI on behalf of the Musk-led consortium a day earlier to OpenAI’s outward counsel William Savitt and Sarah Eddy “for transmission to their client.” Toberoff said the bid was “in the form of a detailed four-page letter for letter” and was addressed to OpenAI’s board.
“Whether Sam Altman chose to provide or withhold this from OpenAI’s other Council members is outside of our control,” he wrote.
An OpenAI spokesperson declined to comment.
— CNBC’s Ari Levy and Steve Kovach donated to this report.
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