OpenAI's Altman Rejects Musk's Unsolicited Bid, Accuses Him of Delay Tactics
San Francisco, California - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has dismissed Elon Musk's surprise bid for the company as an attempt to hinder its progress. Altman made the statement in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the AI summit in Paris.
"I think he is probably just trying to slow us down. He obviously is a competitor," Altman remarked. "I wish he would just compete by building a better product, but I think there's been a lot of tactics, many, many lawsuits, all sorts of other crazy stuff, now this."
Musk and Altman have a history of animosity, stemming from Musk's belief that OpenAI has deviated from its non-profit roots. Musk's AI startup, xAI, competes with OpenAI, and he has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that it has prioritized profit over humanity. OpenAI has contested these allegations.
Altman expressed skepticism about Musk's motives, stating, "His whole life is probably from a position of insecurity."
OpenAI's board will ultimately decide how seriously to consider Musk's bid. The board oversees both OpenAI's non-profit arm and its for-profit business. Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of Salesforce, became chairman in 2023 after the previous board briefly fired Altman. Taylor has a contentious history with Musk, having served as chairman of Twitter when Musk attempted an unsolicited buyout.
Altman had previously responded to Musk's $97.4 billion offer with a joke: "No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."
Despite the rejection, Altman emphasized that OpenAI is exploring various options for the future. However, he reiterated that selling the AI operations is not being considered. "OpenAI is not for sale. The OpenAI mission is not for sale," he stated.