Elon Musk has signaled he will withdraw his $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI's nonprofit arm if the company's board agrees to abandon its transition to a for-profit structure, according to a court filing submitted Wednesday. The move marks the latest escalation in an ongoing legal battle between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the organization's future direction.
Musk's attorneys described the bid as a "serious offer" and emphasized that if OpenAI's nonprofit board "preserves the charity's mission" by halting its conversion to a for-profit model, Musk would no longer seek to acquire it. "Should [...] the charity's assets proceed to sale, a Musk-led consortium has submitted a serious offer that would go to the charity in furtherance of its mission," the filing stated. "However, if OpenAI, Inc.'s Board is prepared to preserve the charity's mission and stipulate to take the 'for sale' sign off its assets by halting its conversion, Musk will withdraw the bid."
The filing comes just days after Musk, alongside investors and his AI company xAI, made an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to purchase OpenAI's nonprofit arm, which holds control over the organization's governance. The proposal was swiftly rejected by OpenAI's board, with legal counsel Andy Nussbaum stating, Musk's "bid doesn't set a value for [OpenAI's] nonprofit and the nonprofit is not for sale."
The latest filing reinforces speculation that Musk's bid is more of a strategic maneuver than a genuine effort to acquire OpenAI. Since announcing the offer on Monday, many analysts have interpreted it as an attempt to disrupt Altman's restructuring plans rather than an outright takeover attempt. OpenAI, which originally launched as a nonprofit in 2015 with Musk as one of its co-founders, has since evolved into an AI industry leader, attracting billions in investment, most notably from Microsoft.
The legal battle between Musk and OpenAI traces back to a lawsuit Musk filed last year, accusing Altman and OpenAI of breaching their nonprofit commitments and engaging in anticompetitive behavior. OpenAI initially operated under a nonprofit structure before transitioning to a "capped-profit" model in 2019, allowing it to raise capital while maintaining nonprofit oversight. The organization is now seeking to further restructure into a public benefit corporation, a move that Musk's lawsuit aims to block.
In response, OpenAI's attorneys have argued that Musk's attempt to acquire the nonprofit contradicts his own legal arguments against the organization's restructuring. In a separate filing on Wednesday, OpenAI's legal team labeled Musk's bid as an "improper attempt to undermine a competitor."
Musk, who founded rival AI firm xAI in 2023, has repeatedly criticized OpenAI for straying from its original nonprofit mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. He has accused Altman of prioritizing corporate interests over ethical considerations, a stance that OpenAI's leadership disputes, arguing that large-scale investment is necessary to achieve their goals.
