Sam Altman says OpenAI board will reject Elon Musk's $97 billion offer

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has informed employees that the company’s board has no intention of entertaining Elon Musk’s "supposed bid" to acquire the non-profit controlling the artificial intelligence firm, The Information reported on Monday.

Earlier in the day, a consortium led by Musk, including his AI startup xAI and investment firms, proposed a $97.4 billion offer to take control of OpenAI. The bid marks the latest chapter in the ongoing feud between Musk and Altman, who cofounded OpenAI in 2015 but later clashed over its leadership.

Altman dismissed the offer on Musk’s platform X, stating, “No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”



Musk retaliated, calling Altman "Scam Altman" on social media.


Musk has long criticised OpenAI, arguing it has shifted from its original mission as an open-source, non-profit AI research entity. He resigned from OpenAI’s board in 2018 and later sued the company, claiming it prioritises profit over public interest. Musk’s lawyer, Alex Toberoff, stated that Musk contributed approximately $45 million to OpenAI before his departure.

The success of ChatGPT in 2022 elevated OpenAI’s global prominence, intensifying internal disputes. The company’s board dismissed Altman in late 2023, only for him to return with a restructured leadership team.

Stargate Project

After taking office in January, US President Donald Trump announced a $500 billion infrastructure investment to bolster artificial intelligence development, backed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, cloud major Oracle, and OpenAI.

However, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk swiftly cast doubt on the initiative, claiming the promised funding was not actually available.

Altman fired back at Musk, “Wrong, as you surely know," he said.

OpenAI's chief told ET in an exclusive chat, that billionaire Musk's vicious attacks on him have continued since the launch of the Stargate project.

When asked if he’s concerned about Musk being a part of the new Trump administration, Altman said, "We were thrilled to announce Stargate with President Trump on his first full day in office, and I think it's great that he's such a supporter of the project."