Elon Musk’s full offer letter to buy OpenAI reveals five key details

Elon Musk offers $97.4B for OpenAI, but Altman rejects it; legal tensions rise over its nonprofit status.

: Elon Musk's consortium, including VC firms like Joe Lonsdale's 8VC and Vy Capital, proposes a $97.4 billion cash offer to purchase OpenAI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismisses the offer, citing complications with their shift from nonprofit status, which Musk opposes legally. Musk's team counters that the offer could be rescinded if OpenAI remains a nonprofit. The offer's conditions involve full access to OpenAI's internal records, raising competitive concerns.

This week, Elon Musk's x.AI and a group of investors made a $97.4 billion cash offer to buy OpenAI, although CEO Sam Altman rejected the proposal. Altman's lawyers argue that Musk cannot simultaneously attempt to acquire OpenAI and legally prevent its conversion from a nonprofit entity.

Included in the filings was the full letter from Musk's team, outlining a May 10, 2025 deadline for the offer, except if resolved sooner, agreements to end discussions are met, or formal rejection is issued. Despite Altman's public ridicule of the offer, OpenAI's board has yet to reject it officially due to legal obligations to consider competitor propositions.

Musk's consortium seeks full examination of OpenAI's financial and personnel records before the purchase, customary for such substantial offers, though potentially giving x.AI access to sensitive information. The bid contradicts Musk's legal objection to OpenAI's asset transfer to private ownership, suggesting ulterior motives to inflate OpenAI's market price, possibly affecting the legal case OpenAI pursues against Musk.