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The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, told employees on Tuesday (February 11) that the company hasn’t received “anything official” from Elon Musk about a possible purchase, according to CNBC.
The publisher states they have obtained the memo sent to employees, with Altman writing: “Our structure exists to ensure that no individual can take control of OpenAI.”
This comes after Musk and a group of investors bid $97.4B to buy the AI company, submitting the offer to its board. The offer was submitted by Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff for all the nonprofit’s assets.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Toberoff said the investor group is prepared to match or exceed any bids higher than their own.
This is just the latest in a long-standing back-and-forth between the Tesla CEO and Sam Altman, with Elon Musk having previously criticized OpenAI’s restructuring plans. The duo have been engaged in legal battles on-and-off for some time now.
"The company is not for sale… we're happy to buy Twitter"
Chief Executive of OpenAI, @sama speaks to Sky's @t0mclark3 after a group led by Elon Musk made a £78.7bn bid to buy the company
Latest ➡️ https://t.co/z6XG7l664o
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/2vaO6fyxwo
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 11, 2025
“Elon runs a competitive AI company, and his actions are not about OpenAI’s mission or values. They are tactics aimed at weakening us because we’re making great progress,” Altman is reported as having written.
Altman hits back at Musk over bid to buy company
Shortly after the news came out about the bid, Sam Altman was quick to come back with his thoughts.
He took to Musk’s social media network X with a quick remark: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025
On Tuesday, he told the press that “OpenAI is not for sale. The OpenAI mission is not for sale.”
When asked whether he takes it seriously and what has driven it, he replied with: “I think he’s probably just trying to slow us down. He obviously is a competitor…”
Both entrepreneurs are in the AI industry, with Grok being the offering from the X CEO. This is a chatbot hosted on the platform and one that has been advertised as having a ‘sense of humor.’
Featured Image: AI-generated via Grok
