Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at Station F, is seen via glass, throughout an occasion on the sidelines of the Synthetic Intelligence Motion Summit in Paris, France, Feb. 11, 2025.
Aurelien Morissard | Through Reuters
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman instructed staff in a memo on Tuesday that the corporate hasn’t obtained “something official” from Elon Musk concerning a possible buy of the substitute intelligence startup.
“Our construction exists to make sure that no particular person can take management of OpenAI,” Altman wrote, within the memo that was obtained by CNBC. “Elon runs a aggressive AI firm, and his actions usually are not about OpenAI’s mission or values. They’re techniques geared toward weakening us as a result of we’re making nice progress.”
The word comes a day after information surfaced that Musk is main a gaggle of buyers in attempting to purchase management of OpenAI for $97.4 billion. The supply is for the nonprofit that oversees the AI startup behind ChatGPT, and Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff mentioned he submitted it on Monday.
“It is time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused pressure for good it as soon as was,” Toberoff instructed CNBC in a press release.
Altman and Musk are within the midst of a heated authorized and public relations battle over the way forward for OpenAI. They have been two of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, establishing the entity as a nonprofit targeted on AI analysis. Musk is suing OpenAI, accusing it of antitrust violations and to try to maintain it from changing right into a for-profit company.
OpenAI has emerged as a large in generative AI, launching ChatGPT in 2022 and setting off a wave of funding in new instruments and infrastructure for next-generation AI services and products. SoftBank is near finalizing a $40 billion funding in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, sources instructed CNBC’s David Faber final week. Microsoft has been the most important backer thus far.
The consortium of buyers supposedly becoming a member of Musk consists of his startup xAI, and long-time buyers in his different companies together with, Baron Capital Group, Valor, Atreides, Vy Capital, Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, and an funding automobile led by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.
A supply near Musk who requested to not be named with the intention to communicate candidly on the matter famous that everybody within the group is a Musk loyalist, and the consortium would not embody any of the normal Silicon Valley buyers which have backed prior Musk ventures.
Altman reminded staff on Tuesday that “Elon has a historical past of creating claims that do not maintain up,” highlighting his “exaggerated” donations to OpenAI and shifting narratives about whether or not he supported OpenAI changing into a for-profit entity.
“One of the best factor we are able to do is extra ahead with dedication and resilience,” Altman wrote.
If and when the OpenAI board does obtain a proper bid, it has a authorized obligation to evaluate it, in keeping with Ellen Aprill, senior scholar in residence on the College of California, Los Angeles.
“The board would want to contemplate a bid even when they did not invite it,” Aprill instructed CNBC. “A non-profit can promote its property, however wants to ensure it is getting truthful worth.”
As a nonprofit, the board would not serve shareholders and due to this fact would not have a conventional fiduciary responsibility. Relatively, its responsibility is for the general public profit, which is decided by attorneys basic of the states the place it operates.
Musk did not instantly reply to a request for remark. An OpenAI spokesperson declined to remark.
— CNBC’s Ari Levy and Steve Kovach contributed to this report.
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