Elon Musk has indicated that he might withdraw his substantial offer of $97.4 billion to purchase the nonprofit organization responsible for creating OpenAI, provided that the organization halts its plans to transition into a for-profit entity.
According to a recent legal filing submitted to a California court, Musk’s attorneys stated that if the board of OpenAI, Inc. is willing to maintain the organization’s charitable mission and remove its assets from being available for sale by stopping the conversion process, Musk will retract his acquisition proposal. They added that if the company decides not to maintain its nonprofit status, then it must receive appropriate compensation based on what a buyer would offer in an arms-length sale.
This offer comes amid a complicated situation with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence firm Musk helped establish about ten years ago. OpenAI operates under a nonprofit board dedicated to its founding goal of developing advanced AI safely for public benefit. However, it has recently evolved into a rapidly expanding commercial enterprise and announced plans last year to officially modify its corporate structure.
Musk, along with his new AI venture, xAI, and a group of investment firms, is interested in acquiring OpenAI to revert it back to its foundational purpose as a nonprofit research organization.
In response to Musk’s unsolicited proposal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly dismissed the bid in a social media update, stating that the organization is not on the market. Musk and Altman, who were instrumental in founding OpenAI in 2015, have since been in a prolonged rivalry regarding the company’s strategic direction, especially after Musk stepped down from the board in 2018.
